


How to Find Your Dragon

by sinivalkoista



Series: Modern Police AU [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, BAMF Astrid Hofferson, BAMF Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Bad Parent Stoick the Vast, Dragon Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Epic Battles, F/M, Masks, Secret Identity, Secrets, Snotlout is a jerk, Sort Of, Stoick is Chief of Police, Vigilante, but not really, hero - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27424807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinivalkoista/pseuds/sinivalkoista
Summary: Astrid Hofferson is the best detective in New Berk City, so it's only a matter of time before Chief of Police Stoick sends her on the elusive Night Fury's trail. But why does the Night Fury want to help her capture the Red Nest gang? And what is his connection to Stoick's missing son?
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Stoick the Vast, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Series: Modern Police AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003656
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	How to Find Your Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fanfiction when I was fourteen and horrible at writing. I am positing it for nostalgic reasons. Please forgive me.

**Prologue**

The skinny boy fights against the overly tightened leather straps with every ounce of strength he has left, but it's too late. The machine is already turned on and working. There's a bright flash of light in the lab and the boy goes limp. The scientists think he's dead, another experiment gone wrong, but suddenly the boy's eyes snap open.

Instead of his old human eyes, they're a terrifying electric green, that of someone – no  _ something  _ else.

They're the eyes of a dragon.

The straps come loose this time. Burning precious equipment, the boy (now turned fully dragon) fights his way out. No one will ever again go through what he just did. He knows that he cannot go home. He must protect the city. Before it's too late he will have to stop N.E.ST. from destroying the it, or worse, harm his family. His family has never cared for him before but...a Chief protects his own.

**1: Of Sons and Serpents**

_ This is New Berk City, located in the Meridian of Misery. It's twelve degrees north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. We who live here are all descendants of Vikings, as if our charming demeanor didn't prove it. My name? I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Great name, I know, but there are worse out there, if you can believe it. I'm not much, but boy have I got a story to tell you... _

Astrid Hofferson was the best detective in all of New Berk City. She graduated first in her class from the Berk Academy of Private Investigation with top honors. It wasn't bragging, it was simply fact. She was as tough as a dire wolf. So why was she cowering in her seat as Chief of Police Stoick, “the Vast”, Haddock yelled red-faced at the force team?

“HOW IS IT THAT ONE MAN CAN OUTSMART THE LOT OF YOU? I WANT YOU PUFFIN-BRAINED EXCUSES FOR DETECTIVES TO FIND HIM!” 

He was, of course, talking about the Night Fury, some elusive new vigilante who was running around, causing havoc throughout the city. The special thing about the Fury was that his get up wasn't the typical Batman, Superman, or Iron Man paraphernalia. Instead, he donned dragon armor.  _ If _ he had any good qualities, they weren't obvious to Astrid. The media was paying big bucks for any scoops on him. Everything about the Night Fury made Astrid's guts boil like the fires of Muspelheim. A team had just come back from an unsuccessful trap to capture him. The failure made Astrid glad that she wasn't a participant.

“I'VE SEEN DECAPITATED GOLDFISH WITH BETTER THINKING ABILITIES! I WANT YOU ALL WORKING, ON THE DOUBLE. NOW! DETECTIVE HOFFERSON! IN MY OFFICE! IMMEDIATELY!” Stoick bellowed, slamming his office door, hinges protesting and windows rattling. The department dissolved into nervous tittering accompanied by cat calls. Astrid pointedly ignored them as she made her way to the Great Door of Doom.

“Miss Hofferson! Welcome. Take a seat.” Stoick pointed to one opposite his wide desk. Despite its size, his massive shoulders dwarfed the desk. Stoick's gargantuan beard poofed out in an array that would have made Astrid laugh on any other occasion.

“Thanks.” Astrid said. She sat on the edge of her seat and looked around the office. Oddly, Stoick had a family photo on display, which eliminated Astrid's speculations that he was a bachelor. She didn't recognize the woman standing with him, but the teenager in the photograph seemed familiar. The woman and the teen both had red hair and green eyes, the said features enhanced in the latter of the two. Stoick cleared his throat, drawing her attention. Astrid looked away from the photo and blushed when she realized she had been staring.

“How do you feel about the Night Fury?” he asked her, leaning forward.

“He's a menace who's been terrorizing this town and making us look like complete idiots for months!” she said vehemently. 

Stoick grunted. “I know. I understand you're already working on the Red Nest gang case, but you're one of my best agents. That's why I'm putting you on the Night Fury's case.”

“Really?” Astrid couldn't believe her ears. 

“Yes. You can begin work on it immediately. Here are the files for it.” He handed her some manila sleeves. “Another thing.” Stoick cleared his throat. “I have a personal favor to ask.”

“Yes, sir?”

“It's sort of personal.”

“Yes?” Astrid prodded when Stoick didn't go on. 

“I need you to find my son.”

“Your son.” Astrid repeated dumbly. She racked her memory. Harold? Henrik? Her eyes flicked over to the photograph. That red-haired, green-eyed fish bone was his son?

“Yes. Hiccup used to work on the forensics team.” 

Hiccup. That was it. Now Astrid remembered. She had run into him (literally) a couple of times, but had never paid him much attention. As she recalled, he drove everyone around him nuts with his stupid inventions and crazy tales of conspiracies. He was pretty useless.

“How long has he been missing?” Astrid asked.

“Six months.”

“Six months?! Why haven't you contacted the authorities?” That was a brilliant thing to ask. Stoick  _ was  _ the authorities. “I mean, hasn't anyone found a trace yet?”

“Not a thing. Astrid, I need you to find him.”

“Can you give me any more details? Was it a kidnapping?” 

Stoick leaned back, more visibly relaxed. “Very likely. But, I have not received a ransom note, so it's quite possible he is...you know...” Stoick trailed off. Astrid felt a flash of sorrow for him.

“Why aren't you looking into this yourself?” The question just popped out of her mouth. “I-I mean...”

“Don't worry, Astrid. I would be, but there has been more trouble in the streets. I've been working day and night to keep this city safe. I simply don't have the time.”

Astrid nodded in understanding. Being descendants of the Vikings themselves, New Berk City citizens valued duty to the city more than anything, including family. Astrid respected that. There was a code of honor that these modern day Vikings held.

“So you'll do it?” Stoick asked her. If she didn't know any better, she would say he was anxious.

“Yes, Chief, I will.”

“You can have access to Hiccup's desk, although I doubt you'll find anything since it's already been searched. Here's the key.” Astrid took the brass key and said the necessary pleasantries, then took her leave. Her mind was racing with excitement. She sailed to her office cubicle on the clouds. Her best friend, Ruffnut Thorsen, was already at her desk next to Astrid's.

“You'll never believe it!” Astrid crowed. Ruffnut stopped swiveling around in circles and peeked at Astrid over a mountain of paperwork. Ruffnut didn't get work done. Ever. It was a miracle she hadn't gotten the boot yet.

“Uh. You got fired.” Ruffnut droned.

“No, knucklehead. I'm on the Night Fury case. Chief just assigned it to me.”

“Congrats!” Ruffnut shouted and leaped up. Papers flew everywhere.

“Thanks.” Astrid replied. “You know,” she pointedly suggested, “you ought to fill the paperwork out  _ before  _ you pile it back on your desk.” Astrid got busy with her work, starting with studying the Night Fury's file. It didn't divulge more than what the media had reported. 

The Night Fury took out gangsters in the darker parts of the city. His methods were highly unorthodox, however, and the police had branded them hazardous. The strange thing in the Night Fury's offensive lineup was his fire, the notes informed. He burned things, but who  _ wouldn't _ if they were in a dragon costume? Astrid mulled over the photos. After several minutes, she returned to her regular work on the Red Nest case. She was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice when Ruffnut took off early for the day. Astrid was tempted to call it a day as well herself, but the key that Stoick had given here glinted mischievously, even  _ invitingly  _ up at her. A few more minutes on the job wouldn't hurt, she reasoned.

Astrid had to ask directions to find Hiccup's office space. To her surprise, it was fairly close to her own. In fact, it was within eye's view. Personally, she found it creepy looking through a possibly dead guy's things. In her opinion, a detective's desk was his or her sanctuary. She put aside those feelings and began searching through Hiccup's personal articles.

Everything was very neat and orderly. Folders separated the files of cases Hiccup had been working on before his disappearance. Pictures and sketches of an adorable black and white Border Collie were pinned to the walls. The drawers held pages full of notes. Hiccup's messy scrawl contrasted with the neatness of everything else. Astrid skimmed the pages. Nothing useful. She was about to give up in plain frustration, when her fingers got stuck between the bottom of a drawer and its side panel. Which shouldn't have happened unless...

There was a secret bottom in the drawer. Astrid pried it up by her fingernails with a bit of difficulty. She was disappointed. Someone went through all of the trouble to put a false bottom in a drawer, and then they didn't even store anything in it? Seriously? Astrid slammed the thing shut in vexation. Something clunked inside. She opened it again and ran her hand in the way back. It closed around something tiny.  _ A flash drive! _

“Finally! Something useful!” Astrid muttered to herself. She plugged the flash drive into her laptop when she got back to her desk. It demanded a password for entry. Astrid typed in  _ Hiccup.  _ It was denied. She tried  _ Stoick.  _ That was denied as well. She tried everything on Freya's yellow braids. In desperation, she tried  _ password,  _ just the sort of dorky thing Hiccup might do. It was accepted.

“You've got to be kidding me!” she screamed at the monitor. Hiccup wasn't even there, and he was already making her blood boil! There was only one document saved on the flash drive. Astrid double clicked on it. It asked for yet  _ another _ password.

“If I ever find you Hiccup,” she said. “I will  _ kill  _ you.” This time,  _ password  _ was not the password. The screen flashed the  _ your password is incorrect  _ message. Astrid chewed on the end of a pencil thoughtfully. Surely Hiccup couldn't be  _ that  _ dorky, could he?  _ Incorrect  _ was the password. Guess he was. The first words of the the manuscript sent a stab of apprehension down Astrid's spine.

_ If you're reading this, it's far too late for me. I hope you enjoy Greek tragedy!  _ Hiccup had a morbid sense of humor, she noted. Instead of the document going into some long sob story about how life wasn't fair, it was a collection of news articles and a couple of profiles. Shocked, she realized that they were for the Red Nest gang, the case she herself was working on. Why would Hiccup have information on them? He wasn't assigned to it.

… _ The body was that of Dr. D. D. Davids, an important member of the Berk Hospital Staff...Police Officer O'Neally was killed in a shooting, after the start of his investigation of the Red Nest gang. His files were stolen...Mayor Peterson resigned after a break-in at his personal residence...Erit Eritson...Mulch, wanted for assault.  _ So many people. But how did they all fit together?

_ All victims were strong leaders in this city's government. Nest is putting its own agents in place. The head of Nest is planning _

The sentence wasn't finished. 

“You've got to be kidding me!” Astrid shouted, steam spilling out of her ears. She slammed her fist on her desk. “You throw a conspiracy theory at me and don't explain ANYTHING? You just END IT?!” She scrolled down, hoping for more. She was rewarded.

_ I won't lose him this time. I've been trailing him for weeks. This time for sure! Maybe Dad will finally listen to me. _

_ “ _ Oh, that's all right. Why not... I don't know...  _ give me a name?! _ ” Astrid gave up for the evening. She knew from experience that she needed to get away from the problem to think things out and put them into position. She hopped into her old, rundown heap of a car and turned up the heat. She'd once heard a weatherman say that it snowed nine months out of the year and hailed the other three in New Berk City. While this wasn't necessarily true, it felt like it sometimes with the freezing temperature drops. 

Once out of the car and inside of her warm house, Astrid settled down for a nice, quiet evening. She threw a mandatory Friday night frozen pizza into the oven and settled down in front of the television. After flipping through the channels, she landed on a horror flick. Astrid wasn't the sort of person who got scared watching the undead crawling across the screen, lurching to grab hold of some person's ankle. She did, however, jump when a loud CRACK! resounded from her window. She whipped around to face the it.

A branch was banging repetitively up against the glass pane. 

Astrid laughed. “You're not afraid of a little wind, are you? Get a grip on yourself, Hofferson.” Still, she changed the channel. Romance. Eww. There was another CRACK! on her window, and when she turned around it was no tree branch that time.

There was a shadowy figure outside her window...watching her.

  
  


  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**2: Night Watch and Fury**

Astrid awoke groggily and disconcerted. She raised her head to discover she was sprawled out on her favorite chair, blocking the front door. Her right hand was in a death grip around a baseball bat She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat there dumbly for a few minutes trying to recall why on earth she had spent the night there. Then it hit her, and when it did, she was wide awake with no thoughts of slumber clinging onto her.

Who had been watching her? Astrid didn't recall having any enemies who weren't sitting behind bars at the moment. Perhaps the stalker had to do with the Night Fury. But that raised another question. How had anyone heard that she was working on the case? Unless Ruffnut had accidentally leaked it out...

Astrid shuddered and buried the thought. She hurried through her morning routine (showering, brushing her teeth, and glaring at her reflection in the mirror) and got out of her house as soon as possible. She had one goal in mind that morning: Get information on the Red Nest gang.

Astrid had been following the Red Nest for weeks with various leads on members. As of late though, the trails had been growing old and cold.  _ Until  _ she heard about a homeless man who usually hung around on Shipper Street going by the name of Johann the Trader. Her informant (her mother, who heard it from a good source) reported that Johann knew almost everything that was happening or had already happened in the city. He traded his secrets, hence the nickname. Astrid planned to pump him for as much needed information as she could bribe out of him.

It was with no little amount of trepidation that Astrid walked through the desolate sector of town. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as putrid fumes wafted up from the ground. She hurried past a man who was in a clown costume and discordantly playing on a rum jug. Good thing she'd remembered the pepper spray. Who knew what creeps could be about? The last time Astrid had stepped unarmed into an alley, she'd been attacked by a pangolin and its trainer. The encounter had left her sneezing for days. Who would have thought that Astrid was allergic to such a cute thing?

Astrid stopped in front of a mound of plaid that fit the description of Johann. “Are you Johann?” she asked. There was no reply, so she cleared her throat loudly. 

The mound jerked. “Wha-? I've done my duty, sir! I told you where-” he stopped his rant when he noticed Astrid. “Hey! You aren't...”

“No, I'm Astrid,” she said, handing him a cup of coffee she had poured from the thermos in her arsenal of bribing implements. “Could I talk to you for a moment?” She flashed Johann a bright, perfectly-white smile.

“Yes, Lady Astrid! You've come to the right man! Jack of all trades, master of one. Whistling through my nose – that I'm good at!” Johann rubbed his hands eagerly, about to give a demonstration.

“Uh, yes. Right.” Astrid quickly diverted his attention to the hot coffee. “Do you know anything about the Red Nest?”

Johann swallowed a swig of the drink nervously. “The Red Nest? Can't say that I do. Nope. Don't know what you're talking about.”

“Twenty bucks,” offered Astrid, impatiently. She didn't normally like giving money to beggars on street corners after she'd seen one get onto a fancy motorcycle and roar off, but she didn't think Johann was one of those. 

“Come on,” she coaxed. “That will buy you at least three dozen donuts to go with that coffee.” She held an Andrew Jackson out to him. 

Johann's eyes darted around nervously before he snatched it. “Fine, Lady Astrid. But you didn't hear anything from me!” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “I heard it from my buddy Eddie, who heard it from the butcher's wife, who heard it from-”

“Cut the backstory,” Astrid snapped, tapping her foot.

Johann shot her a hurt look. “Just assuring you that your information is reliable,” he said petulantly. 

“I'm assured. Get on with it!”

“People these days. They can't wait a minute! Humph! Well, since you asked, it's word that it's more.”

“More?”

“ _ More! _ It's more than just a bunch of jailbirds floating around, breaking into buildings and beating people up. It's gone past the gang stage and turned into an organization! They're planning something!”

“Really.” It wasn't a question.

“Yes!” Johann pulled Astrid down and whispered in her ear.“They're going to strike somewhere. Tonight!” She tried to ignore the reek of coffee on his breath.

“Strike? As in...” Astrid asked, hoping for more information. 

“Keep your voice down! Yes! Kidnap, I believe. Or murder. Poor fellow. I wonder if he has proper house security. I know some great systems that I could recommend. I have the address if you want,” he added as an afterthought.

“What is it?” Astrid questioned. 

Johann rattled off a zip code. “That's all I got aside from the target's last name,” he said apologetically. “By any chance, do you know a Hofferson?”

“Wait. Hofferson? That's  _ my  _ last name!” Astrid yelped.

“You live on Nadder Lane?” So much for Johann only knowing the zip code.

Astrid started to run out of the alley, her thoughts careening out of control.

“Come back any time you need information, Lady Astrid!” Johann called after her, fanning himself with his new twenty dollar bill.

Astrid raced to her office in a mild state of calm panic, if that's even possible. Ruffnut (not surprisingly) was nowhere to be found. Then she saw the scrap of paper on her desk, plainly typed.

_ I'd watch out if I were you. You're the target tonight. _

Astrid crumpled the note.  _ It was on! _

Stoick took one excited look at the note and listened to the details from her informant. As quick as a bear, he was out of his chair, bellowing orders and rubbing his hands in glee. 

“We really have a chance to capture someone this time, eh, Miss Hofferson!” He clapped her on the back, none too gently.

“What's the plan of action?” she asked. This was what Astrid loved about her job. Boring weeks of sitting at a desk and doing nothing, then hours of hair-raising and fast-paced action. Astrid lived for that action.

“We're going to leave the lights on in your house. Agent Spitelout will be stationed in the backyard with me, and Agent Sigrid will be in the front yard with you. There's probably only going to be one or two of 'em there. They come, we attack. Grab a weapon, let's go!” 

A simple, strategic plan! Astrid thought as she grabbed the thermos of leftover coffee.

Being a Saturday evening, Nadder Drive was pretty much empty. People were out watching movies and eating at fancy restaurants. 

Sigrid was a sturdy built, brown-haired woman with the largest set of teeth Astrid had ever seen. They fell into companionable silence as they stationed themselves behind the bushes along Astrid's driveway. Sigrid kept periodically checking in with Stoick through an earpiece. 11 p.m. passed.

A black cat ran by.

Someone's car alarm went off for ten minutes.

The cat ran by again, chased by a large dog.

Astrid pulled out the coffee and took a long sip. New Berk City wasn't exactly California, and the night chilled Astrid's bones. Sigrid shot a longing look at it.

Midnight.

Astrid thought she would explode from boredom until action occurred around 12:37 a.m. Astrid noticed them first. Shadowy figures crept from car to car until they were on her front lawn. Astrid's muscles were tensed and adrenaline was running like fire through her veins, pushing away the coldness of the night. She was ready to do something!

_ Move!  _ her brain screamed.  _ Do something!  _ Sigrid whispered one last thing into her headset before nodding to Astrid. It was time.

“Attack!” Apparently, commands for action in the real world are just as cheesy as in books. Except in the real world, unforeseen snags are thrown in. Like the utterly charming fact that there weren't just  _ several  _ Red Nest members, there was a  _ horde  _ of them, all running for Astrid and Sigrid.

Pandemonium ensued. Astrid's coffee was knocked out of her hands with a well-aimed rock. With no time to grab her weapon, Astrid met the first thug who charged at her with a punch to the nose. She immediately turned around, ducking as a second jab was thrown her way. She wasn't fast enough to dodge the third one, and it hit her full in the stomach. She collapsed inward at the pain of it, and something slammed the back of her head. She kicked backwards and was rewarded with a grunt.

Sigrid wasn't fairing much better. She was red-faced and puffing in anger, swinging her mighty fists this way and that. Astrid had no idea where Stoick and Spitelout were. She suddenly went down on the ground and rough hands grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back. She closed her eyes, waiting for something to knock her out or worse, but the blow never came.

But a scream did. The scream echoed  _ fury  _ and pain. It made Astrid want to scream, too. The hands released her and the men began shouting. Astrid looked up in time to see a purple glow, coming from, Thor, the  _ Night Fury. _

The Night Fury landed in the middle of Astrid's yard, scattering her attackers about. He roared in anger. A few daft attackers tried to fight him, but they soon ended up on their backs unconscious. He spun about burning a circle of purple fire around him. The men regained their bearings and skedaddled out of the neighborhood like the wolves of Helheim were following them, which wasn't far from the truth. Astrid looked around in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. As quick as a throw of Thor's hammer, the whole yard had been cleared. She helped Sigrid, who was lying nearby, to her feet. Astrid held Sigrid up as they faced the Night Fury.

“Who are you?” Astrid challenged, chin tilted up. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her, even if he  _ had  _ just saved her hide. His deed was probably just to make himself look better on the news, she thought. The Night Fury didn't answer. Instead, he surveyed the area around him like he couldn't believe what had just happened. He roared again and a fire inside him began to glow. It was so bright, Astrid and Sigrid had to turn away from the glare. When they looked back, the Night Fury was gone.

_ He sits moodily on the edge of a building. N.E.S.T. was getting bold. They obviously knew now that he wants Astrid's help. He slams his fist down on the concrete edge, and then immediately regrets it. He should have been more careful! Now they would go after Astrid, only next time they attacked it would be for real. He will have to make the first step before they do. Even if it means putting his freedom on the line. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**3: Rooftops and Snotlouts**

Stoick had insisted that Astrid stay at a friend's house for the night, but after one day in Ruffnut's abode, Astrid was ready to tear her hair out. 

Ruffnut coerced Astrid into watching the movie Frozen no less than four times and she sang off-key for all of the songs. Every time the character Hans appeared on the screen, she opened her arms wide and screamed “TAKE ME!” She also insisted Astrid try a specialty blend of coffee, ketchup, and pickles. Astrid and Ruffnut might have been best friends, but they were  _ not  _ compatible roommates. 

_ Those  _ were the reasons Astrid snuck out of the house early before Ruffnut and decided to walk to work. The cool morning air would refresh her and give her a chance to let her sore and tense muscles relax. She didn't get to do so for long.

“HELP! Someone help me!” a panicked voice screamed. “My daughter!”

Astrid snapped out of her thoughts and looked around for the source. A woman was waving her arms frantically and pointing into a side street. Astrid jogged over and saw a little girl in a muddy pink dress sitting in the middle of the street, crying. Astrid didn't see what the problem was until she peered into the darkness.

The Night Fury was standing in the shadows behind the girl.  _ That monster was kidnapping her!  _ Oh, for the love of Loki's serpents, he sure got around. As soon as he saw Astrid, he scampered in the opposite direction, going surprisingly fast for a guy in armor on four legs.

Astrid decided she was going to catch him even if it meant running across the whole city, and then took off after him. “Hey!” she screamed. Through winding streets and mucky mud puddles she chased him, at times only seeing a glimpse of his black tail before it whipped around another street corner.

“This time, this time for sure!” she told herself, sucking in breaths as she ran. Her sides were burning, but she wasn't giving up. She turned around another bend and this time she saw more than a tail. The Night Fury was there, in all his liquid onyx glory, trapped in the dead end of an alleyway. Astrid pulled out the gun Stoick had given her for protection and, without taking her eyes off him, loaded it. 

“You're caught,” she said matter-of-factly, holding the gun with both hands and pointing it at him. There was no way for him to fly out of there without her firing a good shot.

The Night Fury turned around and cooed like a kitten. Astrid had to give him credit for play-acting like the animal he had chosen to base his armor on, even if he was using childish tactics. 

“Take off your mask and put your hands in the air,” Astrid commanded. His hypnotizing electric green eyes stared into hers. She shook her head to clear it, but that one moved proved fatal for Astrid's trap. The Night Fury lunged towards her in one great bound and seized her by the shoulders. The gun clattered from her hands as powerful claws dug into her skin, and in an instant they were both up in the air.

“PUT ME DOWN!” Astrid screamed as wind raced by her ears. The Night Fury did not heed her request, but continued flapping on. As she flailed about, Astrid realized something: The Night Fury was not wearing armor. When she turned her head to the side, it brushed against hot, smooth scales.

How on  _ Midgard  _ was that possible? That sort of stuff only happened in comic books. It just couldn't be real. Astrid closed her eyes to suppress the urge to hurl and resigned herself to whatever fate (besides fighting and plummeting to an untimely death) was coming to her.

She opened her eyes while being dumped onto cold concrete. The Night Fury was crouching on all fours about ten feet from her on the rooftop they landed on. She hadn't actually gotten an up close view before, but now she could see its features. It had four ear and side flaps on its head. When it opened its mouth, she could see rows of gleaming white teeth. Its eyes were twin liquid pools of energizing green. Black, velvet-looking wings encased this creature. The word cute crossed Astrid's mind.

She pushed away the thought, angry at herself. It wasn't cute! It hurt people! “What do you want with me?” she asked, hoping her hatred for the dragon was shown through her fiery glare. “What  _ are  _ you?” 

Astrid's mind, about to explode, surmised that the Night Fury was primitive and couldn't understand her, despite its heroic feats. Even dogs did smart stuff sometimes. She was shocked and jumped whenever it spoke. Oddly, it didn't have to open its mouth to do so.

“I'm human, you know,” it snapped. “I can tell you don't think I am.” His voice was slightly squeaky and muffled.

“What do you want?” Astrid wished she had a weapon, but the rooftop the Night Fury had picked was uncharacteristically clean.

“I need your help, Astrid,” he pleaded.

Astrid crossed her arms. “Fine way you went about asking for it, dragging me up here and almost killing me!” she snapped back at him, irritated. “How on Ran's Rivers are you... all  _ that _ ?” she asked, gesturing with her hands at him.

“The attack on your house last night wasn't real,” he stated, avoiding the question. “They were trying to send a message.” 

“Are you kidding me?! That was a message? Sigrid is in the hospital!” Astrid shouted. “The Red Nest was not just 'sending a message'!”

“It's not the Red Nest. It's N.E.S.T.”

“A nest?”

Astrid didn't know that dragons could roll their eyes so dramatically. She had the urge to laugh hysterically.

“Not a nest. N. E. S. T. It's an acronym for Nuclear Evolution Study Team,” the Night Fury said, shivering. “Johann was right when he told you it wasn't just a gang. It's an organization bent on corrupting and destroying this city. Take the Chief of Police, for example.”

“Stoick?”

The Night Fury huffed. “'Grab a weapon, let's go!'?” he mimicked Stoick from the day of the attack. “What is this, a comic book or a fanfiction? He should have known there would have been too many attackers for just four people! He sees the crime in the streets, but he doesn't see the corruption.”

“You sound like Hiccup Haddock,” Astrid accused, wondering how on earth he could quote Stoick when he hadn't even been there. 

The Night Fury started, surprised. “W-what do you m-mean by that?”

“If you're so in touch with the city and N.E.S.T's movements, then surely you must know that he disappeared after going after N.E.S.T.”

“My name isn't Shirley,” Astrid's kidnapper mumbled.

“What?” Of course it wasn't Shirley. What did he take her for, an idiot?

“Nothing. Hiccup was foolish. He couldn't take on the whole of N.E.S.T. by himself.”

“Do you know what happened to him?” Astrid asked cautiously, but eagerly. If she was going to stand up on the windy rooftop, she was going to pump him for and produce some information.

The Night Fury sighed. “If N.E.S.T. got him, it's too late. He's dead.”

The news sent Astrid reeling like she had been struck. Sure, Hiccup was a klutz, annoying, and well,  _ useless,  _ but he didn't deserve to be dead! Why hadn't she been nicer the couple of times she'd seen him? Another thought occurred to her.

“Thor's thunder! What am I going to tell Stoick? He asked me to find Hiccup! It's not like I can go up to him and say, 'I'm sorry, Chief, but the Night Fury just informed me your son is no longer with the living'!” She cracked her knuckles vehemently. “Are you positive he's dead?”

“Positive. Don't say anything to Stoick, yet. There's not enough evidence and there's too much going on that will distract him. He doesn't need that, especially after his reaction when his wife died.”

“His wife died?” This was news to Astrid, who hadn't even known Stoick had a wife until a couple of days ago.

“What is this, a gossip radio station with the Pickalittle Ladies?” Sarcasm dripped from the Night Fury's voice.

“Huh?” 

“The Music Man? You know, Marian Paroo?”

Astrid had to shake her head. He was speaking a language she didn't understand.

“Inconceivable!” the Night Fury muttered. He shot a hopeful look at Astrid. She sent him a blank look.

He sighed. “Focus. I need your help tracking down the leader of N.E.S.T. If we can stop him, then the whole operation will fall.” 

“What makes you think I can help you? Or that I even  _ want  _ to. You tried to kidnap that little girl! And me!”

“I wasn't trying to kidnap her!” The dragon's voice rose a pitch, making the squeak more distinctive, and his ears flicked back, annoyed. “I was trying to protect her from the shady-looking guy who was stalking her for half the morning!” He snapped his tail in the air. 

“Astrid, I need your freedom. I just can't go walking around in the streets. Someone might recognize me, and that would be dangerous. I need your eyes, ears, and brains where mine can't be.”

“Who are you, really?” Astrid asked, not really expecting him to answer, but it was worth a try. 

Silence became the answer. “Please, Astrid.” His warbled voice echoed pain, exhaustion, and rejection.

It was ironic, Astrid thought, that this was the second person to plead for her help recently. She put her hands on her hips and stared off into the horizon while she pondered her decision.

First, she had heard it from three people (a dead Hiccup, an alive Night Fury, and an in between Johann) that the Red Nest was an organization, not a gang. 

Second, she had witnessed some of their work. Ingrid was in the hospital. Who knew who it would be next time? Astrid couldn't just let that happen again.

Finally, she had a mission to protect her city and find out how Hiccup had died. It was her duty as a detective to her fellow citizens, and it was her duty to her boss to uncover the truth.

On the other hand, the Night Fury was labeled as a felon. Sure, his story sounded nice, but how did Astrid know he wasn't trying to brainwash her with his side of the story? If it became known that she was helping him, it would put her job on the line.

It came down to a matter of trust. Did she really want to put her faith in this vigilante?

Astrid exhaled slowly. “Can you turn human?” she asked. “I won't make a decision until you do.” She wanted to know exactly what and who she was dealing with. 

The Night Fury stalled for a few minutes, then keeping his head in dragon form, shifted his body into a human. He was so tiny for the large beast he had been. His skin interchanged continuously from dragon to human, like a camouflage slideshow that couldn't decide what color it wanted to be. Chatoyant was the word that came to Astrid's mind from an ancient spelling test.

“Please,” he implored, “let me show you what we can do together.” He held out a hand.

Astrid slowly exhaled the breath she had been holding and reached forward.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**4: Mum's the Word**

The grip Astrid had on the Night Fury's hand was a little harder than necessary.

“If I detect a single wayward action from you, I will not hesitate to track you down and have you arrested,” she warned, looking him directly in the eye. “And when this N.E.S.T. gig is over, I will be coming after you again, full force.”

The Night Fury turned back into a dragon and shot her a joyous, toothy grin. He crowed triumphantly into the air, literally shouting from the rooftops, the former sadness and moodiness leaving him for a split second. 

“Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to switch hideouts afterward,” he told Astrid. She rammed her booted heel into his tail. “Why would you  _ do  _ that?” he moaned, curling the appendage protectively behind him.

“That's for kidnapping me!”

He rolled his eyes and began to flap his midnight black, cape-like wings.

“Hold up!” Astrid called above the  _ whooshing _ sounds. “How will I contact you?” 

“I'll be the one to contact you. It's safer that way,” he threw over his shoulder. 

Like she needed his protection, she sniped inwardly. She could do just fine on her own, thank you very much.

Their conversation and bargaining ended as abruptly as it started. Toothless caught her up in the air and (much more smoothly than the first time) delivered her from the rooftop to the waiting ground below and then he was gone. Astrid finished walking to work, her mind much more alert and active than when she started.

“Astrid!” Stoick's loud voice boomed across the room to her as she entered the office's crowded work space. She had been hoping to avoid him, seeing as how she knew his son was dead and she couldn't flat out tell him, but Stoick waved her over. A lankly teen with spiky black hair, eyes to match, nostrils the size of Texas, and a tattoo of an ax on his right bicep was standing by Stoick's side. Astrid wrinkled her nose, instantly disliking him.

“Astrid, I'd like you to meet my nephew, Snotlout,” Stoick introduced. Ah, Astrid thought. Snotlout's mother hit the bull's-eye when she chose that name.

“Pleased to meet you,” she said politely, hoping that would be the end to it. Snotlout flashed her a fail of a flirty smile. His expression looked like someone had shoved a Viking's used pair of socks under his nose and he was trying not to cry.

“I'm glad you two like each other,” Stoick thundered, “because from now on, he's going to be your bodyguard. Can't lose my best detective! Do your job, and protect her well, Snotlout,” he ordered as he clapped Snotlout on the back. Astrid's only thought was that life was now going to be a field trip to Norse mythology's Helheim.

**~**

“Do you work out? It looks like you do. You and I should go to the gym together sometime. Pump some weights!” 

Astrid gritted her teeth. Snotlout's “flirting” got annoying pretty quick. She had successfully bargained with Stoick, eventually narrowing down Snotlout's duty time to day hours with the condition that she stayed at Ruffnut's house during the night. Her phone went off. There was no caller ID. “Detective Hofferson speaking,” she answered, trying to tune out Snotlout's bragging. 

“Is there anyone there who can overhear our conversation?”

Astrid would recognize that warble anywhere. It was the Night Fury. She suppressed the urge to grin as she turned to Snotlout. “I have to go to the restroom. Stay put.” She didn't actually expect him to comply, but it was worth a shot. Snotlout pouted at the interruption of his ego-building session. He looked annoyed by Astrid's request as she stalked off.

In the past, Astrid had complained that visitors to the Berk police station got to use fancy, spacious public restrooms while budget cuts demanded that the detectives only got one cramped stall in the back on the opposite side of the building. At this moment, however, Astrid was grateful she had the ability to lock the door. She positioned herself on the closed toilet lid.

“We're good. Speak away,” she said.

“All right. N.E.S.T. has multiple venues of getting funding for its operations. We're going to shut one of them down today.”

“Perfect,” Astrid agreed. “What do you need me to do?”

“Ditch your bodyguard and drive to the abandoned factory near Raven Point.”

“How do you know I have a bodyguard?” Astrid asked. It was creepy that the Night Fury knew so much without her informing him.

“I'm a telepath, of course,” the Night Fury sniffed.

Astrid was shocked. “You  _ are? _ ” she shrieked. Seriously, how many powers did the guy have?

“No. Actually, I planted a bug in your office. Don't go looking for it. I can assure you, it won't be found.” 

So  _ that's  _ how he knew Stoick had said, “Grab a weapon, let's go!” the other night, Astrid deduced. She still made plans to make a thorough sweep of the area. 

“I'll call you back when you reach the factory,” the Night Fury said, before hanging up. Astrid fake-flushed the toilet and washed her hands in case Snotlout had followed her and taken up his post outside the door. She opened the door and was greeted with the sight of Snotlout leaning against the wall snapping selfies, posing with his bottom lip out in which Astrid could only assume was an attempt at a grimace.

“Hey, Snotlout, want to drive to the food bazaar for lunch?” She was talking about the local farmer's market that was within walking distance from the office. It was usually crowded with people and noisy: the perfect place to ditch a teenager who loved food!

Snotlout frowned. “Why don't we just walk?”

“Ankle problem. Twisted it when the Red Nest attacked.” Astrid limped a couple of steps forward. Snotlout, not being the most observant in realizing Astrid hadn't been limping that morning, agreed. He tried to follow Astrid to her car, but she pushed him in his own car's direction before getting into hers. There was NO WAY she was putting up with him for a car ride.

The market was bustling with people when she pulled up. Astrid got out and immediately directed Snotlout to a hot dog vendor. As soon as he was preoccupied with his wallet, she bolted for her car. After practically diving through the window of the car, she hit the gas full tilt boogie. She frowned to herself as she sped away. Even if it had been her objective, it had been way too easy to ditch Snotlout. Some protector he was!

Astrid drove for about ten minutes until she reached Raven Point's abandoned factory. The factory used to produce umbrellas, but in a city where the Vikings braved the rain, it soon went out of business. As Astrid parked the car, her phone went off again.

“Hofferson.” The word warbled in her ear when she picked up the line.

“You know,” Astrid said as she picked her way across the dandelion-infested parking lot, “you ought to get one of those devices that disguises your voice during phone calls.” Wait a second. Why was she giving him advice now? She face palmed. It would only make it harder for her to track his secret identity in the future.

“I'm working on it. Are you at the door yet?”

“Yeah, I'm there.” The door was constructed of solid steel with red rust around its edges. It probably hadn't been opened in ages, but there was a modern electronic lock on it.

“Put your thumb on the pad. It should recognize your fingerprint,” the Night Fury instructed.

“How do you have my fingerprint?” Astrid demanded. In less than a week, her privacy had been invaded multiple times and it was making her feel like she was losing control. She made a mental note that it was time to invade the  _ Night Fury's  _ privacy and get a sample of his DNA. If she could get her hands on it, she could figure out now he went all dragon.

He snapped her out of her thoughts. “I went back to the alley and retrieved your fingerprints from your dropped gun. Hurry up.”

A little stifled at being ordered around, she pressed her thumb hard into the glowing blue square, which beeped. Astrid pushed her way through the door after she heard the click of it unlocking.

“You know it's dangerous to let me in here, right?” she asked, peering into the darkness. “I can call the cops on you at any moment.”

“Right. I'm just an idiot with no backup plans whatsoever.”

Awkward silence dominated the line.

The Night Fury sighed. “I can have this place evacuated lickety-split. If you report me, anyone who comes here will be welcomed to what you're seeing now: a dark, abandoned factory. There's another door on your left. In the ground.”

Astrid crouched down and felt around with her fingers. As soon as she touched the metal hatch, several thumbprint scanners sprang to life. How many gizmos did he have? 

“I disabled all of the traps,” the Night Fury assured her.

Astrid snorted. She was definitely  _ not _ worried.

After she disengaged all of the locks, she heaved the heavy metal door away from her. Steps pointed down into gloomy darkness. If it was a trap, it was a good one. Astrid chewed on her bottom lip before plunging into the dark. The thirty steps led spiraled down to a corner, which Astrid stepped around without hesitation.

The scene that met her eyes resembled something right out of a James Bond or Batman movie. Piles of tools were strewn about several tables, greasy parts resting beside them. A black object in the suspicious shape of her gun was lying underneath mayonnaise-stained blueprints. High resolution computer monitors lined the walls, scenes from different neighborhoods flirting across the screens. Single blue light bulbs hung from the ceiling, creating the eerie underground hideout effect. A metal cot was shoved in the corner as if it had been an afterthought. 

_ Wait a second. _ “Is that  _ my house?! _ ” A large black shape in the center of the mess that had eluded Astrid's first scrutiny jumped at the sound of her voice.

The Night Fury turned around. He was mostly human, but his large black wings were wrapped around him like a cape. He wore a Mardi Gras style mask to cover his face. His skin, like before, flitted between human and dragon scales.

“Uh. H-hi, Astrid! Yeah. Um. Thought it was a good idea after the attack on your house.” His voice escalated in nervousness. He took out an earpiece and set it down next to the laptop before him.

“Really? You pick a mask to disguise yourself and you choose that one?” Astrid pointed at the gaudy mask, trying to disguise her awe at the sheer coolness of his hideout by being gruff.

The Night Fury touched the mask self-consciously. “It was all I could find!” he protested.

“Whatever. Can I have my gun back?” she asked. She  _ could  _ ask Stoick for another one, but she liked the feel of the old one. And it would be pretty hard to explain why she had lost it in the first place.

“Why? So you can shoot me? No thanks. Besides, you won't need it for this.” So the Night Fury didn't trust her completely.  _ Right back at you, buddy. _

Remembering her purpose for being there in the first place, Astrid asked, “Who do you want me to take down?” She cracked her knuckles.

“Here's five dollars. Go buy some chrysanthemums.” 

Astrid was flabbergasted. “ _ Flowers?  _ I went through the work of outfoxing Snotlout and you want me to go buy  _ flowers?! _ ” Astrid wanted to wipe off the grin that sprang to the Night Fury's face.

“Yes. Go to Boomer's flower shop and buy some mums. But not just any pot! Sneak into the backroom. You'll have to find out which ones contain bulbs in the dirt.”

“Why, exactly, am I doing this?” Astrid was positive that his cheese had slipped off his cracker. That he was a couple quarters short of a buck. That he had lost his marbles.

“N.E.S.T. is hiding Gold of Kinabalu orchid bulbs in those pots. The Gold of Kinabalu is a very rare flower that takes years to cultivate. Each bulb is worth around six thousand dollars and highly illegal to sell without a license in this city. N.E.S.T., of course, doesn't have a license. They hold a secret auction every month and sell the orchids to the highest bidder to fund their illegal activities. You're going to get a pot of mums, discover the illegal bulb inside it, and turn it into Stoick.” The Night Fury handed her a small tube similar to a thin flashlight.

“What's this?” she asked, inspecting it.

“You stick it in the soil of a pot and push the button on the top. If there's a Kinabalu orchid bulb hidden in the pot, it will flash green. That's your sign to buy it. You'd better hurry. Boomer's closes in one hour.”

Astrid took the bulb detector and blew out of the area. Not being acquainted with buying flowers (she usually settled for last minute, wilted daisies from the side of the road) it took about fifteen minutes to find Boomer's. A bored-looking teen with a pencil in her ponytail welcomed Astrid.

“Welcome to Boomer's where we help you boom with blooms,” she droned, her eyes fixated on her phone. “If we can be of any assistance...” The teen was busy texting, so Astrid quietly slipped past her. 

The flower shop was a green thumb's delight. Every spectrum of the rainbow was present in a dazzling display of fragrance and beauty. Too bad Astrid couldn't stay to enjoy it. Several over-buffed workers were watering and trimming plants, so she would have to cause a distraction in order to slip into the off limits backroom. That would be easy enough.

Astrid sidled over to a water hose that was trickling into a water fountain. Making sure no one was looking, she turned the faucet on full blast, causing a torrent to spew forth. Water sprayed  _ everywhere,  _ creating a mud puddles and breaking fragile flower stalks _.  _ Astrid moved on to the fern section. Nobody noticed her act for a few seconds, but then there was a shout and one of the workers rushed over. In the hubbub that followed, she creeped into the backroom. 

There were so many flowerpots. She almost felt dizzy with the prospect of having to go through them all, but she steeled her resolve. The Night Fury had said chrysanthemums. That narrowed it down to... about half the room!  _ Brilliant.  _ What flower place mass bought mums in the middle of winter? 

Astrid pulled out the bulb detector and began sticking it in the pots in an orderly fashion. It didn't light up, even after Astrid had gone through a whole row. Did the thing work? Maybe the Night Fury had set the whole thing up as a test of her motives and to make her look like an idiot. Well,if so, his plan was working. She angrily jammed the tube into a yellow pot. She ought to leave it right there and make that useless dragon find it on his own. 

Astrid had to stifle a shout when the device started to glow. She took it out and dug her fingers around in the gooey dirt. Sure enough, she pulled out a glass capsule that had a bulb in it.

“You're lucky, Dragon Boy,” she muttered, pushing the bulb back into the dirt and picking up the pot. She turned around to make her purchase, but never got the chance to precede to the register. One of the thugs had entered the flower storage area, and was looking around suspiciously. Astrid was trapped.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**5: Vikings and... Flowers?**

Astrid's lungs were about to explode.  _ Go away, go away, go away,  _ her mind chanted as she held her breath.  _ Go away, go away. _

The goon's eyes narrowed as he made a sweep of the backroom. He started to stride meaningfully toward the table that Astrid had ducked behind.

“Arno! Where are you? Quit being lazy and help me rescue these hyacinths!” someone shouted from the main area of the shop. “Arno” rolled his eyes, did an about face and disappeared back through the door.

Astrid exhaled in a big whoosh. She counted one minute, then another just to be sure the coast was clear before she slipped out of the flower storage room. To her delight, water was still flowing and mud was spattered everywhere. She quietly paid for her pot of mums at the checkout counter and sashayed back to her car, quite pleased with herself. She frowned. Now what was she supposed to do? She should have gotten the Night Fury's number. As if reading her thoughts, her cell phone rang.

“Did you have any trouble?” the Night Fury asked when she picked up.

“No,” Astrid said breezily, not wanting him to think she was incapable of buying a pot of flowers.

“Good.” He seemed convinced. “Now go to Stoick and show him the illegal bulb.”

“I can't do that!” Astrid exclaimed. “I'm a Viking! I'd be the laughing stock of the station for weeks! Astrid Hofferson buying flowers?!”

Astrid could sense his eye roll over the line. “Say they're for Sigrid. Do anything. You're smart. Think of something,” he said dismissively.

Astrid groaned. She glared at the offending flower pot in the passenger seat of her car before backing out of the parking lot.

“By the way, next time take more precautions so no one will recognize your face,” the Night Fury warned. “Wear a hat or something. That was a tad sloppy.”

Astrid huffed. “It was just fine for being time-pressed. Before you hang up, undo whatever phone block you installed, so I can add you to my contacts. I might need to call you later.” It might also be handy to trap him later, she thought.

The line went silent for a few minutes. “Done.”

Astrid tapped her phone's screen and labeled the caller as “NF”. She was put out to discover that the number the Night Fury was calling her from was magically whited-out. How did he  _ do  _ that?

“Got it,” she thanked him. They ended their connection as Astrid pulled into the parking lot where she worked. She didn't even have to find Stoick, for when she walked in, he and Snotlout were having a man to idiot conversation by the main door.

“Astrid! Snotlout tells me that you ditched him this afternoon!” Stoick bellowed, a tad angry, but willing to hear her out as far as Astrid could tell. “Are those... flowers?”

“Yes, Chief. We  _ did  _ get separated, but Snotlout must not have heard me when I told him I had to go buy flowers for Sigrid since she's in the hospital. He had his nose in the hot dog stand at the food bazaar. You know how it is when you've put in a hard afternoon's work and then your stomach growls. It's practically a siren song.”

Stoick rubbed his chin, which no one could see under his massive red beard. “True.”

“And while we're on that subject,” Astrid continued, moving Stoick to a more private area and leaving Snotlout behind, “I need to talk to you about these flowers.” She handed him her receipt.

“Fine idea, Astrid! Wish I'd thought of it myself.”

“It's what I found in _ with  _ the flowers that's concerning.” Astrid dug in the dirt and pulled out the glass cylinder. “This is known as the Gold of Kinabalu orchid. It's highly illegal to sell in this city without a license. From the looks of it, whoever was selling this was trying to smuggle the bulbs through their flower shop.” 

Stoick was impressed. “Nice work, Astrid! Fill out the necessary forms, and someone will have the bulb scanned to make sure it's the real McCoy. I'll get a team over to-” he glanced at Astrid's receipt “-Boomer's flower shop.”

It turned out that the Night Fury was absolutely correct when he said that N.E.S.T. was using the flower shop. With the exception of the bored teenager at the front desk, everyone in Boomer's employment was discovered to be members of the “Red Nest gang”, including Arno.

At the end of the day, Astrid collapsed on Ruffnut's dilapidated sofa, longing to rest on a couch without cat hairs and grease stains all over it. She pulled out a lined pad of paper, ripped an old sheet off it, and grabbed a pen. It was time to put things together.

At the top of the first page, she wrote “Night Fury” in big block letters. Underneath that, she started to compile a list of attributes that would help her track down his real identity.

  * _Sarcastic. Not much help._


  * He references a lot of books/movies. Check the local library for frequent patrons?


  * Scrawny. Not a lot of muscle. Eliminates most of the people in town.


  * Devices. Someone with money???



Might as well accuse him of being Batman and ask for his autograph! Astrid thought. She drummed her fingers on the couch's arm. What else did she know about him?

  * _There's a possibility of him knowing Hiccup. Ask around and see who Hiccup's friends and contacts were._



Astrid kicked her feet up on the coffee table, not even bothering to go to the guest room to get some shut eye. Her last thought was that tomorrow's work was going to be interesting.

**~**

“Freya's golden ax!” The Night Fury's cry met Astrid's ears as she swept down the stairs into his dragon cave. She had convinced (more like forced) Snotlout to fulfill a dentist appointment instead of following her around like a lost puppy.

“Sounds like I'm not the only one who evokes old Norse deities,” she remarked, leaning against part of the wall the wasn't covered in screens. The Night Fury was leaning over a table, tinkering with something and muttering to himself.

“Soooo...” Astrid drew the word out, deciding she might as well open the day with a big, random question. “Do you know  _ how _ Hiccup died?” 

The Night Fury stiffened for an instant before resuming his work. “No.” The answer was short and did not encourage any further inquiries, so rather obviously to Astrid, he  _ did _ know, but wasn't going to say.

“You're not even a good liar,” she accused.

“I never claimed to be,” he snapped back, clanging metal parts together.

Astrid rolled her eyes at him. “What did you want me down here for, anyway?” She started messing with a black cylinder on one of the tables. 

“Don't touch that. I want you to get me some medical files today.”

“ _ What?”  _

“Get me some medical files. If that bothers you, consider yourself a Robin Hood. The doctor we're – or rather  _ you're _ \- going to relieve them from stole the files after killing the first doctor. They have personal information about patients. The specific files will be marked. You'll recognize them when you see them.”

The Night Fury stopped his tinkering and pulled out a cup from a drawer underneath the desk. He filled it up halfway with water from a pitcher and then dropped what looked like red food coloring into it.

“Drink this,” he told Astrid, coming over and handing her the cup.

She looked suspiciously into its depths. “What did you put in it?”

“Just a little something. The effects won't be permanent.” 

“You've got to be kidding me.” Astrid stared down the Night Fury. His dragon's eyes stared unblinkingly back at her from behind his mask. It was a battle she was not going to win. She sighed and chugged the glass down in one big swig. Instantly, her eyes began to water and her throat burned.

“Water!” she howled, shoving the cup back at him. He rushed over to the pitcher and filled the cup to the top. Astrid gratefully gulped it. “Sweet thunder of Thor!” she shouted, hopping up and down and refilling her cup again and again. “What was in that?”

“An extract of the Carolina Reaper pepper. It's one of the hottest peppers in the world ranking one million, five hundred and sixty-nine thousand, three hundred in Scoville heat units. If you eat enough of it, it could kill you.” 

Astrid turned around and socked him in the shoulder. “Don't you  _ ever _ do that to me again!”

“Don't you Vikings live for the thrill of almost dying? Besides, it got the desired effect. You're sweating, and your cheeks are red. You look like you have a fever! No doctor who upholds the Hippocratic Oath would turn you away from his office! The address is 1011 Water Street. Walk-ins are welcome, so don't bother calling for an appointment.”

Astrid glared at him. He made little shooing motions with his hands, which were trying to morph into dragon claws.

“How convenient.” Astrid turned to the general vicinity of the exit, since she still couldn't see very well.

“And by the way, don't come here in your car again. It's too dangerous,” the Night Fury warned. “Even though you  _ are  _ a plain clothes officer-”

“Detective,” Astrid corrected, turning around.

“Okay. Detective, then. Wearing bright blue is sort of like saying 'Hey! I'm over here! Come attack me!' Are you  _ trying  _ to stand out?”

Coming from the person with weird eyes, cookie batter skin, and a spanking set of dragon wings, Astrid gibed to herself. She shot him a look and stomped up the hideout's steps. Once out of the dark recesses of the factory, she stopped and critiqued her car. It  _ was  _ a little conspicuous, sitting there all alone in the ramshackle parking lot. Suddenly, Astrid felt exposed, so she scurried to her car and sped away.

The doctor's office was surprisingly crowded, for New Berk City's citizens didn't get sick that often. Still wiping tears from her eyes, Astrid stumbled to the check-in desk and groaned inwardly at the long line. 

“You don't look too good,” the receptionist drawled when Astrid finally reached the counter. Without answering, Astrid threw down the necessary identification and slunk to a filthy chair in the waiting room. There was an unhealthy shade of brown to everything, so Astrid tried to touch as little as possible. How did the place even pass health regulations? 

“Hofferson, Astrid,” a nurse called. Astrid got up and followed the nurse to the single consultation room, hoping it was cleaner than the waiting room. It wasn't. The doctor's desk was piled down with Better Homes and Gardens magazines.  _ That  _ was a little suspicious.

“The doctor is examining another patient right now. He will see you in a few minutes,” the nurse informed her before leaving the room.

Perfect. That gave Astrid time to ransack the doctor's personal desk for the files the Night Fury wanted. The desk was unlocked, which wasn't very safe for security reasons, but exactly what Astrid needed. She began a frantic search of the drawers.

The first one contained a Rubik's cube, three Slinkies all tangled together in a hopeless knot, a used coffee mug with a mixture of sludge and mold growing in the bottom, and a chewed up pencil. The second one contained files. Astrid flipped through them, but they weren't her query. She found the documents in the last drawer she looked in. They had the abbreviation “N.E.S.T.” stamped on them, rather obviously. She flipped them open expectantly.

Disappointment surged through her. Nothing but lines of pure gibberish stared back at her. Oh, well, she thought. Maybe the Night Fury could dig out some sense from the mess. She snapped the files shut, stuffed them underneath her coat, and just walked out the door.

“Hey! Weren't you-”

Astrid ignored the receptionist as she strolled out the front door and hopped in her car. This time, she made sure to park the junk heap a couple of blocks away from the factory before swiping her thumbprints and ghosting through the door.

“Ta-da!” she crowed as the plunked the files right down in front of the Night Fury, interrupting his trance in front of a laptop. He closed the lid before Astrid could see what he had been looking at.

“Good work,” he commented, but his voice was flat, and his dragon eyes gazed off into nothing.

“That's all you're going to say?” Astrid asked incredulously. “I faced the wrath of the Carolina Reaper for just a 'good job'?” she mimicked.

“The sun will come out tomorrow,” he muttered, moodily.

Astrid huffed, put out. “It might not. If you haven't noticed, it's the middle of winter in New Berk City! The sun only shows its face a couple times a week!”

“Would you bet your bottom dollar?” the Night Fury asked, balancing his pencil on a long, pale finger. 

Astrid ignored his question and asked one of her own. “What is so important that you need to read these?” she asked, tapping the files with her fingernail. “They look like nonsense to me.”

“They're encrypted.” He flipped through the papers. “I'll work on decoding them tonight.”

“Don't you ever sleep?”

The Night Fury flicked an ear flap in annoyance. “Aren't you late for your rendezvous with Snotlout? 

Astrid glanced at her watch. “Frey's ships!” She raced up the stairs and out the door.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**6: That Dumb Beast**

“SOMEBODY GET THAT DUMB BEAST!” Stoick roared. Astrid looked up from her work to see a black and white ball of fur bound past with the red-haired giant puffing after it.

Astrid dove for the leash and grabbed it. Pulling her onto the ground, the dog began licking her face. The wet tongue suddenly vanished. Stoick helped Astrid to her feet, one hand gripping the scruff of the dog's neck.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “Dumb animal's been driving me nuts ever since Hiccup... you know...” 

Astrid nodded. Now that the lightning bolt had somewhat settled down, she could see that it was the Border Collie from the pictures on Hiccup's desk. She bent over to pet him.

“I thought getting him out would settle him down,” Stoick explained. The dog licked Stoick's crisp uniform. “You know that doesn't wash out, Toothless!” he scolded, trying to brush the dog's slobber off his pants.

“Toothless?” Astrid curiously asked, straightening up. It was an odd name for a dog. 

“Aye. Hiccup found the pup in an alley when he was just a wee thing. He was going to die, but Hiccup insisted on keeping him. Toothless was so young, his teeth hadn't even grown in yet.” Stoick's eyes smiled at the memory. 

Astrid felt sick to her stomach. How was she ever going to get the nerve to tell Stoick that Hiccup was dead when the time came? She chose a safe reply. “Ah.” Toothless grinned up at her, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Loki's wolves, the dog was cute.

“Speaking of which, any news on Hiccup?” Stoick asked hopefully.

Astrid looked away. “I have some ideas to follow through on.”

Toothless began chewing on the laces of Stoick's shoes. Stoick shook him off. “I'd better get this pea-brained beast back home before he causes any more trouble.” Toothless dropped into a dead weight position as Stoick dragged him towards the door.

“Jumping serpents! Are you  _ the  _ Astrid Hofferson?” a voice exclaimed. Astrid turned around and was met with a flurry of paper flying around her face. “Sorry!” the voice cried. Astrid helped pick up the snowfall of papers. The man she had run into had a crop of straw-colored hair, pale green eyes positioned above a large marble-shaped nose, an overbite, and a pudgy girth that rivaled Stoick's.

“I'm Fishlegs Ingerman, the case file editor!” he announced as Astrid handed the papers back to him. “I've always admired your work in the Red-Headed League case!” he gushed. “I have a copy of the case's file here somewhere.” He began searching around in the mess of papers.

“Uh, that's all right,” Astrid assured him. Her phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID to see it was the Night Fury. “Maybe we could swap case stories later? I've got to take this call.”

Fishlegs looked disappointed, but bumbled on to finish his tasks.

Astrid looked around to make sure no one was within earshot before answering. “Hello?”

“Hello, Astrid.” The voice that answered was NOT the Night Fury's warble at all. Instead, it was a deep bass.

“Who is this?” she demanded, pulling the phone away to make sure she hadn't misread the caller ID.

“The Night Fury, of course.” He sounded insulted. “I finally got the voice modifier you suggested to work. What do you think?”

“Tone down the bass. Good morning,” she added, annoyed.

“Do you wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it's a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning? Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?” the Night Fury calmly replied.

“What in Sif's hair?” It was definitely him.

“Oh, that's good. Haven't heard that one before.” The Night Fury seemed pleased. “Don't you ever read good books?” he complained.

“I have more important things to do.”  _ Like catching you! _

“Mind if I add one more thing for your to do list?”

Astrid played with the end of her braid. “Depends. What do you want?”

“Go to Shipper Street. A homeless guy I know is going to give you an important message for me. I'd go myself, but I've almost finished decoding those files.”

“Fine.” Astrid hung up and signaled Snotlout (who was over by the coffee machines, dumping half the bottle of creamer into his cup) to come over. She strode out of the office building, not waiting for him to catch up. 

“Where are we going?” he whined, trotting behind her.

“To get donuts.” It was the first thing that came to Astrid's mind. 

“Awesome!”

Astrid ignored him and started to march to her car.

“Hold up!” Snotlout jumped in front of her. “My car. Where you go, I go.” Great. Now she would have to put up with him for a car ride! She rolled her eyes and followed him to his Death Trap.

“Your gas meter is low,” she pointed out, fastening her seat belt. The car reeked of sweat and fast food wrappers were piled up in the back seat.

Snotlout ignored the safety measure and the question. “You know,” he boasted, wagging his eyebrows at her, “I can hit four bull's-eyes in one second!”

_ Yes,  _ Astrid thought,  _ because you disobey the one shot per five seconds rule at the shooting range!  _ She tried to focus on the road in front of them instead of Snotlout as he went on yet another personal ego-building session. It was a good thing that she did, for Snotlout was checking himself out in the rear view mirror and the car started veering into the next lane.

“SNOTLOUT!” Astrid screamed. Snotlout looked up just in time to swerve out of the way of a semi truck. 

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” Astrid yelled, wondering what  _ she  _ had been thinking, letting Snotlout (of all people) drive her somewhere! Her recent lack of sleep must have weakened her judgment.

“The sun was in my eyes, Astrid! I could block it, but that might take a while!” Snotlout tried to defend himself. 

“That's it!” Astrid was having none of it. “Pull into the next gas station and start filling up. I'm driving!” 

Snotlout shot her a sullen look, but obeyed and pulled into Viking's Pit Stop gas station which was only one block away from Shipper Street. Astrid decided it was the perfect time to ditch him and walk the rest of the way. Snotlout, still sulky, got out of the car and inserted the nozzle into the gas tank. He leaned against the car and crossed his arms, probably hoping his muscles were being noticed by others.

Astrid didn't wait around to admire his prestigious amount of flab. She slipped into the convenience store and out the back entrance. Then, she sprinted to Shipper Street. When she got there, an alarming sight met her eyes. 

Police cars with blue and red blaring lights were parked in the middle of the street and yellow crime tape was draped everywhere. Astrid slowed her sprint to a jog.

“ Detective Astrid Hofferson. What's going on?” Astrid asked, approaching an officer with sandy hair and blue eyes. She flashed her identification at him.

“A dead man was found in the alley,” he answered, writing notes on a pad of paper. “Brutally stabbed to death.” Just then, medics started rolling a stretcher into a nearby ambulance. A familiar arm clad in plaid poked out from underneath the sheet. 

Astrid trailed off. “Is that...” 

Astrid didn't want to ask who the victim, was but the officer confirmed it for her; it was Johann the Trader.

Astrid felt an unaccustomed waved of sadness. She'd only met Johann once, but she'd gathered that he'd been a funny, life-loving man. And to be dead less than a week later...

“Are you all right, Miss Hofferson?”

Astrid shot him a look. “Of course I am. May I look around the scene of the crime? His death might have been connected to a case I'm working on.” And he could have been the person the Night Fury wanted her to rendezvous with.

“Fine, although I doubt you'll find anything. A team's already scoured the area.” Someone called to the officer, and he nodded at Astrid before leaving her to her own devices. Astrid squared her shoulders, faced the alley where Johann's body had been found, and marched in.

The alley still stunk and was littered with pop bottles and food wrappers. Now, however, there was a dark stain and a chalk outline where Johann had been and officers milled about. Astrid did a quick scan of the ground. Maybe Joann had enough time before he was killed to leave a message or write a note somewhere...like on the piece of paper that was sticking out from underneath the trashcan. Astrid bent down and scooped it up. The paper was smudged with a little bit of ketchup and mud, but Astrid could still make out some of the words.

_ Confirmed shipment of plutonium. He _

Astrid shoved the note into her pocket. “How long had he been dead before you found him?” she asked the same officer she had talked to before when she exited the alley.

“We estimate about twenty-four to thirty hours, but it's hard to say.”

“Hmm. Well, thanks for letting me poke around. Tell me if you get any more developments,” Astrid said, shaking hands with him. She started walking with a new objection: the Raven Point factory. She had some serious thinking to do.

First, Johann's note finished (or rather, was unfinished) with “He”. Who was Johann talking about?

Second, the officer had said Johann was brutally stabbed to death. What if he hadn't been  _ stabbed  _ to death, but  _ clawed?  _ The officer had also said that Johann was killed at least twenty-four hours ago, about the time the Night Fury had sent her to the doctor's office. Maybe he had done that to make sure she wasn't around, and then killed Johann?

Third, Johann was known for collecting information. What if he had gotten something good on the Night Fury, and in a rage the dragon killed him? What if the “He” Johann wrote was the Night Fury? And to think she'd been stupid enough to actually  _ help  _ him!

Astrid disregarded the Night Fury's “safety” measures he had asked her to do and marched right up to the front door of the factory. She unlocked everything with ease and paused in the stairwell to pull out her phone so she could be ready to call the cops. She took a death breath before marching down.

The Night Fury sat alone at his usual table, but unlike the past two times Astrid had been down, the screens were all black, making the room darker. He wasn't tinkering with anything, and didn't move until Astrid spoke.

“Did you kill him?” she asked, her voice a low and menacing whip, the effect she had been hoping for. Her thumb hovered over the call button on the phone, ready to press it in an instant.

The Night Fury sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would you think that?” His voice was tiny, almost inaudible.

“He was 'stabbed' to death. Maybe you killed him because he had dirt on you and you sent me to find the scene to throw suspicion off yourself.”

The Night Fury drew his wings around himself. “You're jumping off the cliff before you have the bungee cord around your ankle! I didn't kill him.” He buried his head in his hands. With almost all the lights turned out and his constantly-moving skin, it looked like the shadows were clawing at him. “But it is my fault,” he finished, voice breaking.

Astrid didn't remove her finger from the dial button. “So you  _ did  _ kill him.”

The Night Fury slammed his fist on the table, the movement so sudden, Astrid jumped. “Why are you so insistent in thinking I'm the bad guy here, Astrid?” He didn't wait for an answer. “Johann didn't get information on me. Most of the time I gave  _ him  _ stuff. I asked him to track some of N.E.S.T.'s movements. I thought I was careful, covering up my trail when I met with him, but I must of made a mistake. Now he's dead and it's my fault!” He broke down into sobs. 

Astrid didn't know how to react to his outburst. She awkwardly shut off her phone and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans. She faked coughed and was forced to clear her throat several times to get her voice working. “Johann was able to leave a note. It said, 'Confirmed shipment of plutonium. He-'. That's where it ends.”

The Night Fury didn't reply. Astrid decided to go with a “let's remember Johann” approach. “You know,” she rambled, “the first time I met Johann I thought he was an ax murderer. I mean, I had just walked past some guy in a creepy clown costume and-”

The Night Fury spun around in his chair sharply. “What?”

“Before I met with Johann, I walked past a creepy guy in a clown costume,” Astrid repeated, eyes widening. “But-”

“N.E.S.T. could have had an eye on Johann!” the Night Fury interrupted. “The clown saw him talking to you and told his boss!”

“And they had Johann killed,” Astrid finished.

This time, the Night Fury's dragon eyes widened. “Which means the clown saw you!”

“And?” Astrid asked nonchalantly. 

“Get out,” the Night Fury ordered.

“Why?”

“It's not safe! Get out and don't come back!”

Astrid crossed her arms in defiance. “You can't make me.” Did she sound like a two-year-old? Yes. But, the Night Fury was being stupid. She could defend herself!

The Night Fury narrowed his eyes. “Yes, I can.” He morphed into a dragon. In the darkness, only his eyes shone forth, an other-earthly green. He opened his mouth to reveal a gleaming set of teeth, illuminated by a bluish-purple fire building inside of him. He roared, the sound echoing violently in the abandoned shell of the factory.

He lunged for Astrid, but she turned and fled.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**7: Liar, Liar, Dragon on Fire**

Astrid stared at her computer screen, one hand resting on her chin. She listlessly twiddled a pencil in her other hand, not even bothering to pretend like she was being productive. Snotlout was sitting on a desk in a middle of all the cubicles, several girls preening about him and admiring his non-existing muscles every time he flexed.

Astrid sighed and glared at him, even though her mood wasn't his fault...mostly. It was Dragon Boy's doing. She admitted to herself, albeit grudgingly, that she had been enjoying the little missions the Night Fury had sent her on. He didn't have the right to run her off like that! Angry, Astrid snapped her pencil in two.

“No need to punish innocent pencil life!” Ruffnut joked, popping up from behind a pile of papers on the desk next to Astrid's.

“Why are  _ you _ so happy?” Astrid snapped, and then instantly regretted it. It wasn't Ruffnut's fault, either.

Thankfully, Ruffnut didn't take offense. “Guess what? Stoick just hired my twin, Tuffnut, to work in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive Agents! Remember him? The ugly guy? You know, I might ask for a transfer over there, too!” Ruffnut chatted excitedly as she packed up for the day.

“Well, bully for him,” Astrid sarcastically replied, slouching forward and resting her chin on her crossed arms.

Ruffnut ignored Astrid and prattled on. “I'm going to be out celebrating with Tuffnut all night. Don't stay up for me! Toodles!” she called as she left the office.

Astrid sat staring at the wall for a few seconds before Ruffnut's announcement set in. “Wait. Stoick hired _Tuffnut?_ _What?!_ ” she yelled, but it was too late. Her friend was already gone.

Astrid sighed again. _ Just great. _ Ruffnut and Tuffnut in the same office? The place wouldn't be left standing by the end of the week! Astrid continued to sit there, not really doing anything, as one by one everyone finished their work and left, leaving only her and Snotlout remaining. Eventually, Astrid followed suit, Snotlout not far behind.

The parking lot was practically deserted when Astrid got into her car and dumped her recently-acquired messenger bag into the passenger seat. Astrid cranked the engine, turned around to make sure she wasn't backing into someone's outrageously-priced Ferrari, and screamed, like there was no tomorrow. 

_ There was a dead body in the backseat of her car! _

“Oh, Loki above and under the earth!” How had someone put a corpse in the back of her car?

Snotlout honked his car horn to get her attention and threw his hands wide as if to ask “Why the hold up?”

Astrid waved him off angrily, trying to think. Just then, the body groaned. Oh, great! It was an alive dead body! Whoever it was wasn't quite dead.

“Astrid?” It was the Night Fury, and his voice was groggy as if he had just woken up.

“Yes, it's me. What are you doing in the back of my car?” Astrid demanded, remembering his cruel send away the previous day.

“Oh, I just thought I'd hang around, bleeding all over the place for fun,” he drawled. Astrid noticed for the first time that his left leg was propped up on the seat and a bloody scrap of fabric was loosely wrapped around it.

“I'm not very good with medical stuff,” he explained.

She didn't realize she was ogling at all the blood until Snotlout blared his horn for an  _ extremely _ awkward amount of time.

“OH, FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, HOLD ON!” she yelled at him. 

“Who's Pete?” the Night Fury asked innocently. Astrid ignored him (giving him a bit of leniency since he was injured) and jammed her car into reverse. She drove jerkily the whole way to Ruffnut's house. 

“Stay put until Snotlout drives away. We don't need him getting in our business,” she told the Night Fury, getting out of her car and sauntering up to the house. It took a  _ millennial  _ for Snotlout to pull out of Ruffnut's driveway, but when he did, Astrid raced back out of the house to her car.

Now that she had a better look at the Night Fury, she could see that he had obviously been in a fight. His clothes were ripped and singed, but somehow he had managed to keep the stupid mask intact, even if it was missing a couple of feathers and beads. His wings were non-existent for the moment.

“What happened to you?” she asked gruffly, helping him into the house. She dropped him (perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary) onto Ruffnut's couch and bustled into the bathroom to get a first aid kid without waiting for a reply. Ruffnut's first aid kit was used on a regular basis, so Astrid had to hunt around for an alcohol swab.

“N.E.S.T. attacked the factory,” the Night Fury informed her, scratching the back of his neck. “The security camera I had installed glitched and I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. The roof of the – ow!” he howled as Astrid wiped his wound with the found swab.

“If you would hold still, it wouldn't hurt so much!” she snapped, scrubbing rougher than she should have. She disposed of the swab she had used up and reached for another one. “You know, that was selfish of you to run me off like that and then show up in my backseat asking for help.”

“I-I didn't want you to get h-hurt!” The Night Fury's stutter came out when he was nervous, and it did now. He began interlacing his fingers like he was itching to have a project to mess with so he wouldn't have to look at her.

Astrid snorted and took out some gauze. She began wrapping it around his leg. 

“I'm s-sorry, Astrid,” he hesitantly apologized. 

“Uh huh.” Astrid finished her work in silence. 

Astrid didn't even realize the Night Fury was crying until he started shaking. “I'm sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It's all my fault.”

Astrid was taken back, not used to crying people. Vikings didn't cry. She took a seat on the couch next to him. “Your fault? For what?”

“I didn't ask for any of this!“ He threw his arms wide. “My stupidity killed Johann! It's all my fault,” he repeated, wrapping his arms around himself. Tears welled from his dragon eyes and dripped down the front of his mask. The effect was that of a heart-broken puppy.

“It's not your fault,” Astrid told him. “Now, we need to work  _ together  _ to stop N.E.S.T.” She glared at the Night Fury, daring him to contradict. “First, I need something else to call you besides 'the Night Fury'. It's a beast to say. No offense.”

The Night Fury wiped his eyes. “How about Toothless?” he whispered. 

“Toothless?” Astrid asked, incredulous.

The Night Fury nodded. He absent-mindedly began to rub his injured leg. Astrid took the cue, rose up, and went into the kitchen to get an aspirin or something. Toothless... it was such a dorky name. Had she heard it somewhere before? 

When she opened the aspirin bottle, the answer hit Astrid like a swing from Thor's hammer. How could she have been so  _ stupid?!  _ Toothless was Hiccup's dog's name. It all made sense now. 

Hadn't Hiccup been a book-lover? 

The Night Fury was referencing books all of the time. 

Hiccup made crazy inventions. 

The Night Fury was always tinkering on something.

Hiccup was scrawny.

So was the Night Fury, when he wasn't in dragon form.

And the green eyes. 

Oh, Tyr's missing hand! She was an  _ idiot _ !

Astrid grabbed an aspirin and a glass of water and headed back to the living room to confront the Night Fury. He sat there, staring at Ruffnut's borderline obsessive collection of action movies, like nothing was wrong in the world.  _ The hypocrite.  _ Astrid leaned against the door frame. 

“Hey, Hiccup?” she asked casually.

“Yeah?” He instantly realized his mistake as he turned to look at her. “Uh, I mean, um, what a-about him?”

But it was far too late. “You  _ lied  _ to me!” Astrid was madder than Thor in a wedding dress. “You told me Hiccup was dead. That's not true. You're Hiccup!” Astrid had never felt so betrayed in her life. He had said to her  _ face  _ that Hiccup was dead. She had agonized over not being as nice as she could have been to Hiccup when he was alive for the past two weeks. Why did he do this to her?

“Listen, Astrid, I can explain!” He dropped the warble he had put on, and now his voice was nasally. If Astrid thought hard enough, she could recall the same voice apologizing to her after being knocked over.

“Oh, you'd better!” she snipped, steaming. 

“How much do you know about radioactivity?” the Night Fury a.k.a Hiccup asked her.

“Enough. But refresh me,” Astrid said acidly. 

“When atoms have an uneven number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, they're unstable,” the Hiccup explained. “To get back to a stable zone, the atoms emit particles. They can do it in three different stages of radioactivity: Beta decay, Alpha decay, and Gamma rays.”

“Go on,” Astrid prodded when he paused.

“The Gamma rays are the deadliest. If they touch cells, normally they kill or burn them. Organ damage, cancer, and all that. But sometimes, on an off chance, they mutate them. The immune system is supposed to kill the mutated cells, but if it gets over-whelmed by the rays...things can happen.”

Astrid shifted her position on the door frame to get more comfortable, but didn't take her glare of daggers off of him. “That doesn't explain why you lied to me! I trusted you.” She didn't mean to let the stream of hurt leak into her voice. When had he become such an important person in her life?

The Hiccup had the decency to look embarrassed. “I didn't mean to find N.E.S.T., to be honest.” 

Astrid snorted.  _ Honest? How  _ dare _ he use that word right now! _

He paid no heed to her interruption. “I was looking at a news report on the Red Nest gang when I saw a connection between two murders. I spent weeks after that tracking down every little case and putting it into a larger web. Then I saw him.”

“Him?” Astrid raised her eyebrows. 

Hiccup nodded. “At the grocery store. He was wearing a leather jacket, but as he reached to get his groceries, his sleeve slipped up. There was a tattoo of a red nest on his wrist.”

“So you followed him,” Astrid concluded, remembering the flash drive he had left in his desk.

“Yeah. I tried to tell my dad, but he wouldn't listen to me. I though that if I got solid proof besides 'a midwife's tale' as Dad so nicely put it, he would finally pay attention! I followed the man for weeks, but he always managed to shake my tail. Every time I managed to keep track of him for a little farther.

“Then one day, Dad sent me to a murder scene. On the way there, I saw the man and followed him. It was all a trap,” he stated miserably. “They jumped me. The next thing I knew, I was strapped down to a table in a lab with a radioactive machine glowing over me. Boom. I got dragon powers.”

“And why didn't you tell me the truth in the first place?”

“I didn't (and still don't want) N.E.S.T. to go after my dad. It's better that he thinks I'm dead. If I told you who I am, you couldn't help but tell Stoick, and that would put him in danger.”

“If you had gone to him,” Astrid pointed out, “you wouldn't have to be the vigilante you are now. He would understand.” Stoick was one of the most understanding bosses Astrid could think of.

“He wouldn't understand me,” Hiccup said bitterly. “He never listens! And when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl on his face like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich.” 

He adopted a Scottish accent. “'I'm sorry, barmaid, but I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish bone!'” He gestured wildly with his arms the whole time he talked.

Astrid stifled a laugh. It  _ was  _ a pretty good imitation of Stoick. 

Hiccup looked up at Astrid. “I really am sorry, Astrid. I thought it was for the best. Besides, do you know how awful it is to look at the wanted posters the police try to sketch of me? They just can't get my nose right!”

Astrid did laugh this time. She crossed the room and handed him the water bottle and the aspirin. He imbibed them as she once again plopped down next to him on the couch.

“I guess I don't need this now.” Hiccup reached up and tore off the hideous mask. His face was as freckled as it had been in the photo on Stoick's desk and his red hair was matted from being under the mask for so long. However, his eyes stayed the same electric green.

Astrid promptly punched him hard in the arm.

“What was that for?” he howled, holding it. 

“ _ That,”  _ Astrid said, satisfied, “was for lying to me. And this is for our new alliance.” She grabbed his hand and forced him to shake it.

“New alliance?” Hiccup asked, confused.

“Yes. You tell me  _ everything,  _ and I won't turn you into the police or tell Stoick. Deal?” she asserted, holding her chin high.

The Night Fury smiled at her. “Deal,” he affirmed. 

“Great. Let's go take down N.E.S.T!”

_ The man snarls at his minions as they scurry past him. “Is the formula done?” he demands an answer from the head scientist. “You said the last test subject almost made a complete change.” _

_ The scientist swallows nervously, something that pleases the man immensely. “No, sir. Just a couple more days. If the process isn't complete -” _

_ The man interrupts him. “I want it done by tonight!  _ Everything _ will happen tonight.” A goon walks by the pair. “You!” the man barks. “Get that plutonium into the machine.” He stalks off without waiting to see if his orders are followed. He knows they will be. No one would dare disobey him. _

Everything will go my way tonight,  _ he thinks, smiling an evil smile to himself.  _ And I will the most powerful man in the world!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**8: Fails and Bustin' Out of Jails**

With his small form practically swallowed up, Hiccup snored on the couch, probably knocked out by the medicine Astrid had given him. Either that, she mused, or from plain exhaustion. 

Astrid idly stirred the hot cocoa she had fixed and watched the whipped cream swirl around. It looked like snow, which reminded her that snow was due any day in New Berk City. She was surprised that the sky hadn't opened up already.

Astrid was startled out of her wondering by heavy knocking on the front door. She frowned to herself. Ruffnut must have forgotten her key and was standing outside, waiting to be let in. She kicked Hiccup in his uninjured leg on her way to the door.

“Hey,” she hissed. “Wake up.” Hiccup stirred and muttered something about water-skiing, but didn't wake up.

The knocking increased in intensity. Pressed for time, Astrid did the only thing she could think of: She dumped Hiccup's half-drunk water bottle on him. He jerked awake in an instant.

“Someone's at the door! Go hide in the spare room,” she whispered, shoving him on his way. She went and opened the door.

She was surprised to see Stoick, Snotlout, and a couple of officers standing there.

“Uh, hello, Chief?” Her greeting was more of a question.

“Hello, Miss Hofferson!” Stoick rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I'm very proud of you! Nice work!” The officers pushed their way past her and into the messy house.

Astrid was confused. “I'm sorry, but  _ what?” _

Stoick chuckled. “Capturing that rogue, the Night Fury, of course!”

“I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Chief, but-”

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud roar shook the house. That did NOT mean something good. A shattering sound came from outside. Astrid pushedthrough Snotlout and Stoick to the front porch.

Police cars with red and blue flashing lights and a large black van were parked on the curb. Neighbors gawked from a safe distance while officers walked around squawking into radios. The overall effect was that of a crime scene.

Astrid turned to the front lawn. Hiccup (who had managed to procure a mud mask and a hoodie over his wet t-shirt to hide his identity) was being restrained by two officers in front of a broken window. 

“No, no, no, no, no! You don't understand!” Astrid told Stoick.

“Don't understand what? Snotlout here told me all about your brilliant plan!” Stoick boomed, his chest welling up with obvious pride.

“That's right!” Snotlout confirmed, striking a pose for the newspaper reporters who had gathered. 

“Snotlout knew you were waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on the Night Fury. Can't blame you for being cautious, eh?” Stoick laughed. “We just tweaked your plan a bit to be safer. The second he tried to turn into a dragon, we drugged the hooligan. He won't be rampaging anymore!”

The officers began hauling Hiccup towards the black van. He stumbled, his leg giving him obvious pain. He sent a pleading look to Astrid underneath the mud on his face.

“Chief, you don't understand!” Astrid grabbed Stoick's arm as he started to turn away. “The Night Fury is your son!”

Stoick brushed her off. “The Night Fury probably killed Hiccup. Don't worry, we'll get him to confess.”

Astrid opened her mouth with a rebuttal, but Hiccup beat her to it.

“Dad!” he cried. His hood had been pushed back to reveal his red hair and the mud was starting to drip off his face.

“Hiccup?” Stoick whispered softly, turning around. In shock, his blue eyes went as wide as a Viking war shield. Snotlout began to choke in the background.

“Alvin Treacher! Do you remember him?” Hiccup asked, frantically. “He's the leader of N.E.S.T! They're going to attack!”

Stoick stood there, shaking his head. “No, it can't be. No!”

“Dad! For once in your life would you  _ listen to me?”  _ Hiccup begged.

For a second, it looked to Astrid like Stoick would, but then his eyes narrowed. “You're no son of mine,” he stated coldly. “ If you're the Night Fury, you're a criminal who deserves justice. Load him up! Make sure the handcuffs are secure.” He turned his back on Hiccup.

Hiccup's shouts were muffled as he was handcuffed and shoved into the back of the waiting van. The vehicle shook with roars, but whatever it was made out of held him well.

“Good work, Astrid. Take the day off tomorrow. You deserve it,” he told her before barking orders and getting into a police cruiser.

Astrid couldn't believe what had just happened. She wanted to go after Stoick and pound some reason into his thick skull, but none of that would help Hiccup.

She turned on Snotlout. “I thought you were his cousin! Hiccup needs to stop N.E.S.T. and now look at what you've done!”

Snotlout's bravado melted like the Ring in the middle of the Mountain of Doom. He scuffed his shoe on the concrete driveway. “I didn't know Hiccup was the Night Fury,” he said meekly, cowering under her evil eye.

“Well, now you do, and you're going to do exactly what I say.”

Snotlout nodded assent. It was amusing that he thought he had a choice in the matter.

Astrid continued. “You are going to go to the police station and call me the  _ minute  _ you hear where they are keeping him. I want the  _ exact  _ holding cell.”

Snotlout nodded again. “Then what?”

Astrid's mind was already formulating a plan. “Meet me back at the office in Meeting Room A.”

**~**

Astrid sat at the end of the table in Meeting Room A. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs (who had been a last minute addition) all sat there staring at her.

“You want us to do  _ what? _ ” Ruffnut squeaked.

“Break Hiccup out of jail,” Astrid repeated. 

It sounded so simple, but if the Vikings in New Berk City were good at something, it was holding felons. The guards were the best of the best of the  _ best.  _ The New Berk City Jail was a huge structure made of concrete and twisting tunnels with the highest rate of security. In a nutshell, fire-resistant, unbreakable, and unbustable, if that was even a word.

“All right! This is going to be fun! Do we get guns?” Ruffnut and Tuffnut high-fived. 

Fishlegs' mouth dropped opened. “Are you serious? That's impossible!”

“There's no such thing as impossible, only improbable,” Astrid stated primly. “And no, you don't get guns.”

Fishlegs frowned. “Isn't the Night Fury a felon?”

“Technically yes, technically no. You know the Red Nest gang?” Astrid asked. Everyone nodded. “It's not actually a gang. It's more of an organization bent on destroying this city. The Night Fury – Hiccup – has been trying to stop them.”

“Takes a prankster to catch a prankster,” Tuffnut quoted.

“Are you all in?” Astrid asked, looking each one of them in the eye. They all nodded.

“Let's bust Hiccup out of jail!”

Easier said than done. 

They brainstormed for what seemed like an hour, but each course of action that they came up with was stupid and would end up getting them all killed. Or worse, fired.

It turned out that Fishlegs was a pretty good hacker. He wormed his way through some computer files and managed to pull up a floor plan of the prison. 

“He's in cell 1001A,” he informed them. “That's in the heart of the building.”

Astrid stared at the screen thoughtfully.

“You'd need a stick of dynamite to get through there,” Tuffnut complained. 

“That's it!” Snotlout crowed. “A diversion! Ruffnut and Tuffnut could set of some fireworks in the street in front of the prison and have some of their friends from whatever band they're in - “

“The Zipplebacks,” Ruffnut and Tuffnut interjected.

“-run out in the street in fake prison suits. The guards will think there's a mass escape, go to round up everyone, and BAM! We're in!”

“That's brilliant!” Astrid was impressed, for once. Maybe Snotlout actually had a brain underneath all that spiky hair.

Snotlout smirked at her. “See how well I protect and provide?” 

_ Or maybe not,  _ Astrid thought.

“Do you have any fireworks?” Astrid asked Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They looked at her as if she had just asked if Vikings had helmets. “Never mind, forget I asked.” 

She dug around in her messenger bag for a couple of ear pieces she had picked up from the office's equipment center. She passed them around to everyone. “We can use these so our hands will be free. Fishlegs, stay here. I will tell you when to shut down the cameras and locks.” She glanced at her watch. “Can you guys have the fireworks set up in an hour?”

The twins nodded an affirmative.

“All right. Snotlout, you're coming with me,” Astrid ordered, packing up things. She and Snotlout were already dressed in black, which was perfect for their night time mission. After setting up the blue tooth connection between the earpieces, Astrid drove Snotlout to a fast food joint near the prison. They waited in the car until the twins gave the thumbs up and then ghosted up near the bulletproof glass doors.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BA BOOM! Bright flashes of color lit up the night sky. People in orange jump suits began to run across the street, screaming at the top of their lungs. The reaction from inside the prison was instant. Guards poured out with weapons and chased after the “escaped prisoners”. Astrid held Snotlout back until she was sure the coast was clear before they entered the prison's lobby.

“Next time we set off fireworks,” Fishlegs' voice came through the ear piece, “warn me. That hurt my ears.”

“Sorry,” Astrid whispered. She scanned the lobby. It was mostly steel, with a reception desk smack dab in the center. Security cameras were poised everywhere, but Fishlegs had already deactivated them. Doors with myriads of locks on them were at the end of short hallways. 

“Can you unlock the doors?” Astrid asked. There was a long, agonizing wait as Fishlegs worked. Snotlout squirmed beside her, obviously feeling the discomfort, too. A minute later, the gargantuan locks clicked and the doors to the cells swung open. Astrid readied herself in case a guard was behind them.

Fortunately, none were. Rows of cells lined the hallway, sending Astrid into a pit of dismay. How on earth were they going to find Hiccup?

As if sensing her thoughts, Fishlegs answered the unspoken question. “Hiccup's not in a normal cell. Right now he's in a high containment block. You'll have to take the elevator to the first level.”

“Right,” Astrid said. “I knew that.” She and Snotlout sneaked towards the elevator. Most of the cells on the third floor were empty except for a few sleeping forms in orange suits. The elevator was also void of any humanoid. Astrid punched the 1 st floor button and the doors slid shut.

“I wonder how Ruffnut and Tuffnut are fairing,” Snotlout whispered. The whole place seemed to demand silence.

“Knowing them, just fine,” Astrid whispered back. She and Snotlout braced themselves as the elevator came to a stop. “Be ready for whomever is on the other side.”

Someone was right on the other side. Before the buffed up guard could even shout, Astrid had bludgeoned him on the head with her heavy duty pepper spray bottles. Snotlout tugged the guard over to a corner as Astrid hunted for Hiccup's cell. 1000A, 1000B, 1000C the rooms went by. Each of them was solid concrete with only a small window of – you guessed it – bulletproof glass.

“Come on, come on,” she chanted to herself, looking for room 1001A. It had been too easy to break into the jail, she thought as she went along. She made a mental note to tell Stoick to upgrade security even more the next time. Not that there was going to be a next time. Astrid didn't plan to make breaking into jails a personal habit.

1000D, 1001A, 1001B... Wait a minute. Astrid eyes snapped back the the number. 1001A! She pressed her nose frantically against the glass, trying to get a glance of Hiccup.

There he was. Astrid couldn't see him clearly because of the texture of the glass, but his chop of red hair was unmistakable. She banged on the pane to get his attention. He sat up from the small cot that was in the room.

“Fishlegs,” she hissed. “I found it. Get the door unlocked.”

“I'm trying,” Fishlegs replied, “but there's extra security on the cell door!”

Astrid paced in front of the door like a caged lion. “Hurry!” She wasn't being that fair to Fishlegs, but her adrenaline was making it impossible to be patient and polite.

The door  _ finally  _ clicked open and Astrid rushed inside. Hiccup grinned at her, sporting a black eye and a pair of handcuffs that looked more like a pair of pilgrim stocks. New Berk City's Vikings were so old fashioned, sometimes.

“About time!” he said.

“Oh, be quiet,” Astrid told him, relieved that he was all right. She began inspecting the handcuffs, looking for a way to break the metal open. “Why didn't you get out of here yourself?” she asked him, annoyed.

“I would have if I could,” he told her, “but you've seen this place. It's dragon proof.”

Astrid took out her pocket knife and ran it along the keyhole in the handcuffs. With a little maneuvering, they popped open. 

“Thanks, Astrid,” Hiccup said, rubbing his wrists. “We need to get out of here. Now! I know what N.E.S.T. is going to do with that plutonium.”

Before Astrid could ask him the details, the whole room shook in the largest earthquake Astrid had ever experienced. Concrete began falling from the ceiling in large chunks.

Snotlout rushed into the room. “The building! It's going to collapse!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**9: Red Death and Final Breath**

_ The change was amazing! Alvin Treacher felt instant power being pumped through his veins by his powerful beating heart. The small room he had been in seemed to shrink into a puny little thing. He was big! He could do anything! _

_ A small part of his brain nagged about destroying someone named Hiccup Haddock, but that didn't matter now! Not when he was unstoppable, unbeatable, and he could burn the city to the ground. He relished in his power, and began to work to break free of the earth that held him. _

Astrid reacted instantly to Snotlout's words. She grabbed both of them by the collar and ran like a mouse being chased by a starving cat. Thankfully, the guards that Snotlout and Astrid had knocked out were already gaining consciousness, so they didn't have to stop to help them. 

“GET OUT!” Astrid yelled as the trio raced past them.

Astrid pushed Snotlout and Hiccup out the front door just as a chunk of the ceiling fell down upon the footsteps they left behind them. Ruffnut and Tuffnut's friends were no where to be seen, but police officers were scattered about the streets, helping people out of buildings. 

“What, exactly, is going on?” Astrid asked Hiccup, straining to see him in the darkness of the night. Snotlout began coughing up dust, so Astrid thumped him on the back.

Hiccup rolled up his pant leg and began tightening the bandage Astrid had wrapped around it. “Plutonium is radioactive. N.E.S.T. is reproducing the dragon experiment.”

“And who is Alvin Treacher?” Astrid asked.

“It's hard to explain.” Hiccup's forehead wrinkled. “The short version is that he's the guy who would like to see me and my...dad... dead. We need to get to the center of town!” 

The rumbling stopped and a loud groaning came from one of the skyscrapers in the center of the city. Without warning, the whole thing collapsed.

“No!” Astrid yelled. What if people had been in it?

“Don't worry,” Snotlout choked from beside her. “No one was in it. The building was set for demolition.” Before Astrid could respond to him, the ground began to shake again.

“Astrid, I'm afraid of what's going to happen,” Hiccup whispered from beside her. “I don't think I have the courage to face whatever is underneath the ground.”

She shot him a look. “You'd be an idiot not to be afraid. Besides, courage isn't the absence of fear, it's being afraid and pushing forward anyway.”

Concrete, glass, and rubble shot into the air as something burst from the ground. It didn't matter that it was in the middle of the night and the the mountainous thing blocked the moon. Glowing with red fire, the beast arose from its dirt prison.

“Come on!” Hiccup took off running. The beast gained altitude in the air, flapping large, leathery wings. It roared, the sound shattering what windows were still intact across New Berk City.

“What  _ is _ that?” Astrid shouted, sprinting after him. In retrospect, it was a stupid question. But Astrid's brain just couldn't comprehend something THAT big had been underground.

The wails of sirens filed the air, and police cars and firetrucks parked haphazardly in the streets. From the pit where the beast had exploded from, thugs began pouring out into the streets. 

“Find Stoick,” Hiccup told her and Snotlout, a determined look in his eye. He morphed into the Night Fury. Those around him shrunk away as if he had the bubonic plague. Several officers shouted and tried to shoot at him, but he shot into the air, roaring a challenge to the bigger dragon.

“Astrid!” Stoick hollered as he squeezed out of a police cruiser, but he was too late.

Astrid didn't have time to see what happened to Hiccup or Stoick. One of N.E.S.T.'s goons rushed at her, and she jumped into action. She used her attacker's momentum to trip him then and rammed her elbow into the back of his head. 

“Duck!” Snotlout shouted at her. Astrid flattened herself to the ground immediately and a bullet whizzed over her head.

“Thanks,” she hollered briefly, blocking a punch from her next opponent. She disabled the guy with a judo flip to the ground.

“Hey! I just saved your life. Does this mean that you'll go out with me now?” Snotlout asked. Astrid pushed Snotlout down and threw an uppercut into the face of a man who had been about to whack Snotlout on the head.

“Now we're even, so no.” Astrid continued defending herself. Several times, she heard roars that shook the world, but she didn't have time to see how Hiccup was faring. She did, however, notice that Stoick was a force to be reckoned with. No criminal who stood in his path was safe from his massive fists.

The number of bad guys seemed to be thinning out as they were overwhelmed by the police force. Astrid separated herself from the fray and searched the sky.

Hiccup was shooting bursts of fire at the huge dragon's chest, but it didn't seem to notice them. It turn, it opened its colossal mouth and spewed red fire on the city below. 

Astrid racked her brain, trying to find a way to help Hiccup, but she couldn't think of anything. He was at the mercy of his own devices.

**~**

The Night Fury roared at the Red Death (the name he mentally gave the beast) but it continued its work of burning the city. The Night Fury felt like a gnat trying to get the attention of an elephant.

The Red Death had small eyes and large nostrils. While dragons had excellent hearing, the Night Fury couldn't see its ears. So the Red Death mainly relied on smelling, which meant it could find the Night Fury easily since he reeked of dragon scent. Then the Night Fury saw the wings. The Red Death's wings were tattered. If the he could just get the Red Death up higher in the air where he had the advantage of speed, he could make a move.

The Night Fury sliced through the air right above the Red Death's wings and shot a burst of energy at them. That angered it. It flapped its poor wings, gaining altitude as it followed him.

In the midst of all of this, the Night Fury was still racking his brains, trying to think of a way to destroy the evil dragon. He didn't even know if any part of Alvin's mind was still sane, or if he had given into the mental turmoil that came with the changing into a dragon. Probably the latter, considering some of the evil deeds Alvin had under his name. He loved thrills and before he had turned sour, the guy had swallowed fire at a circus.

_ Wait a minute... swallowing fire.  _ The Night Fury knew what he had to do. It was a good thing, too, because the Red Death was gaining on him at an alarming rate as they climbed higher into the sky.

The Night Fury curled his wings around himself as he shot up and into a bundle of clouds. He unfurled them and hid in one of the fluffy masses as the Red Death searched around for him. He wished Astrid was with him. Astrid didn't know it, but she was the one person whom he wanted by his side right now because she always knew what to do.

The Red Death snorted angrily, swinging its massive head left and right, smelling for him. The Night Fury waited for just the right moment before revealing himself. He sent an energy burst straight into the Red Death's nose.

Loki's tricks, did that anger it! Its opened its mouth as wide as a whirlpool and started to suck everything, including the Night Fury, into its depths. The Night Fury fought against the current, trying to turn around to deliver his final blow. His wings strained at the effort, but he managed to make the maneuver and send his final attack of fire straight into the Red Death's mouth. Pain exploded in his wings and over the commotion of the Red Death burning up from the inside, he heard an unhealthy crack.

The Night Fury let out an unearthly scream as he began to plummet to the ground, trying in vein to get back up into the air. Just when things couldn't get worse, something large and spiky crashed into Hiccup, sending waves of agony up his already hurting leg and wings.

He was vaguely aware that he somehow unwillingly changed back into his human body form as he fell to the ground in a world of fire, wreckage, and wild pain.

**~**

Astrid hated being on the ground as helpless as a newborn lamb. She watched anxiously for Hiccup when he disappeared behind the clouds. The flashes of light illuminated nothing but the large shadow of the beast that had come from the ground. 

“Where is he?” Snotlout asked from beside her, shielding his eyes from the sun that was rising over the horizon.

“I don't know,” Astrid snapped back, cracking her knuckles restlessly. A roar louder than the rest reverberated through the air and then an explosion lit up the sky, brighter than Ruffnut and Tuffnut's fireworks.

The humongous beast came crashing out of the clouds towards the ground. When it hit, the buildings underneath it were crushed. Concrete, rock, and glass flew like shrapnel into the air. Astrid pulled Snotlout and another officer behind a car and covered her nose with her shirt sleeve. She counted a minute before peeping out. Dust clung to the air, making it hard to see more than a couple feet.

“Hiccup!” she shouted, searching around for him. There was no reply, nor did his familiar black form come swooping down to greet her. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs soon joined her search.

“There!” Fishlegs shouted, pointing. Astrid followed his finger and saw a flash of a green shirt admidst the rubble. 

Astrid zipped over. As far as Astrid could tell, Hiccup was unconscious and pinned underneath two slabs of concrete. “Help me!” she commanded. The twins and Fishlegs tried to help her lift it off of him, but their strength failed and nothing budged.

Astrid felt helplessness start to overwhelm her. She pounded the rock with her fist in frustration. Before she could do any more damage to her hand, Stoick pushed her aside. In one motion, he effortlessly heaved the debris off of Hiccup. He knelt by his son, roughly brushing the filth off Hiccup's face. Hiccup's skin was paler than normal, which worried Astrid. Why wasn't he waking up?

“No,” Stoick whispered, horrified. A group of police officers, firefighters, and New Berk City's citizens gathered around as the scene unfolded.

“No!” Stoick cried louder. His stoic facade crumbled into grief, a change from the rock it had been when he disowned Hiccup. “I did this. I killed him.”

_ No, no, no, no, no! _ Astrid thought. Hiccup couldn't be dead! Stoic bowed his head over his son, fat tears dripping into his singed beard. Astrid fell to her knees next to Stoick in disbelief.

She grabbed Hiccup's shoulders and shook him. “Come on! Wake up!” she demanded. “If you don't, I'll.. I'll... I'll k-kill you!”

The threat wasn't much use. Hiccup's eyes remained closed. The people gathered around them silently bowed their heads.

“He's can't, Astrid,” Snotlout whispered from behind her. “He's dead.”

“He can't be!” Astrid protested. She had already thought Hiccup was dead once! The obnoxious, dorky,  _ insolent  _ Hiccup she knew was too stubborn to be dead!

Stoick shook his head again. “I did this,” he repeated, dumbstruck. 

Thick, salty tears began to stream down Astrid's face, and for once in her life she didn't care. Astrid cradled Hiccup in her arms, glaring at Stoick when he reached forward. Ignoring the smell of something burning, she buried her face into Hiccup's shoulder and let the sobs pour out. That's when she noticed it.

_ Thump. Thump. Thump.  _ “He's alive!” Astrid cried, sitting up in shock.

Stoick lifted his head up and gaped at her.

“I can hear his heartbeat!” Astrid insisted.

“Checking for a heartbeat is an essential part of determining if someone is dead or not,” Fishlegs informed them.

Stoick placed his vast head on Hiccup's chest. His face lit up in the first real smile Astrid had seen in a while. “He  _ is  _ alive!” Cheers went up from those gathered around them. 

Astrid felt her heart rise with the sun that was peaking over the horizon. Hiccup was alive and she was going to get to punch him for  _ everything  _ he'd ever done to her.

Ruffnut broke into her thoughts. “I hate to break it to you,” she droned, an abnormal quaver in her voice, “but you might want to get him to a hospital before that gets any worse.”

Astrid looked down again at Hiccup and for the first time noticed his leg.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**10: Silent Sleep Without a Peep**

Astrid paced nervously in the waiting room of the hospital. Hiccup had been rushed into surgery hours ago, and she hadn't heard a word since. Stoick sat on one of the small chairs, arms crossed. The receptionist, whom Astrid had nagged almost constantly, watched her anxiously out of the corner of her eye, prepared to bolt the next time Astrid made a beeline for her.

“Surely he's all right,” Astrid worried to Stoick, sitting down beside him. There had been a lot of blood and his leg hadn't looked too good. 

Stoick grunted. “He's Hiccup. He'll either get out of it miraculously or...” 

He didn't get to finish the thought for at that moment the doctor walked through the door. “Family of Hiccup Haddock?” he asked, looking up from a clipboard. Stoick and Astrid rose to their feet and rushed forward. 

“How is he? Can we see him? Did he...?” Astrid asked, anxiously.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “And your relation to the patient is?”

Astrid sighed in relief. At least he had said “is” instead of “was”. “I'm not related to him, but-”

The doctor turned to Stoick, not letting Astrid finish. “Are you related to Hiccup Haddock?” he asked, skeptically, and for good reason. Besides for their red hair, Stoick and Hiccup didn't look alike.

“I'm his father,” Stoick said almost ominously, daring the doctor to contradict. 

Wisely, the doctor didn't. “He survived surgery. You can see him now, but before you go in, there's a few things you need to know.” The doctor started leading Stoick back into the white sterilized hallways, almost slamming the door in Astrid's face.

She growled in annoyance and slumped back into her seat. It was going to be a long wait.

**~**

She spent most of the next two days while the doctor denied her access to Hiccup keeping the twins out of trouble, finishing up the Red Nest case, and helping to clean up the wreckage of the rogue dragon's visit. One of those days, Snotlout muttered something about tattoos while she was filing paperwork. He disappeared afterwards without a trace, which worried Astrid a little since Snotlout liked being the center of attention.

On the third day, she was in the cafeteria glaring at her dish of pasta like it personally offended her when Stoick  _ finally  _ called her to let her know that the hospital was allowing people to see Hiccup. Her speedometer never dipped below sixty as she sped to the hospital.

“Hiccup Haddock,” she breathlessly told the receptionist. Why were computers so slow when she needed them?

“Room 101,” the girl eventually told her. Astrid threw a thanks over her shoulder as she dashed for the door.

Stoick was sitting in a chair beside Hiccup's bed when she arrived. Dark bags were under his eyes and he looked in dire need of a good sleep.

“He's in a coma,” said Stoick, answering her unspoken question. “They don't know when he will wake up.”

Astrid nodded, disappointed, then she forced herself to look at Hiccup.

He looked like Snow White, with pale skin and closed eyes. His chest rose up and down, the only sign that he was still alive aside from the heart monitor that held a steady beat. Bruises covered one side of his face, but they were already turning yellow in preparation to fade away. His right arm (which was in a cast with his collarbone) was lying above the sheets tucked around his small body. Astrid eyes wandered down to his leg and she gasped.

“They had to amputate it to save his life,” Stoick explained dully. “He was losing too much blood and the bone was too crushed.”

Astrid nodded again, although the action did nothing to display her growing emotions. How could a dragon fly without wings? Hiccup had made it clear that he didn't like what had happened to him, but Astrid had noticed the way he had kept his dragon wings most of the time. Deep on the inside, she knew (even though she hadn't really seen him in action) that he loved the flying part of the package that had been dumped on his doorstep.

Stoick got to his feet, the plastic chair he had been sitting in bending in protest. “Can I ask you a favor, Astrid?” 

“What is it?” 

Stoick avoided her eyes, almost as if he was unsure of what to say. “Well... seeing how Hiccup and I parted... have always been... not the best.. I would appreciate... he talked to you, didn't he? You see, he might not-”

Astrid interrupted him before he could put more nails onto the coffin. Stoick wasn't the best with words. “You don't think you're the best person for Hiccup to wake up to since you cruelly disowned him to his face and he might need a little time,” she supplied, not sparing his feelings. “Since I'm the closest person to him right now, he might respond to me a little better.” 

Stoick seized her words eagerly. “Exactly! Please, Astrid.”

“I'll do it. But I expect overtime pay,” Astrid agreed with a playful smirk on her face. She would have stayed with Hiccup anyway since she was finally allowed into his room.

Stoick hurriedly agreed and got out of the room like it was on fire. Astrid glared at his retreating form. 

Stoick was a good man. A little rough on the outside, but he was honest, considerate, and hardworking: the perfect boss. But, Astrid had been seeing a new side of him since talking with Hiccup. Was Hiccup's accident Stoick's fault? Not completely, but he wasn't exactly blameless. For that matter, neither was she. She could have talked to Hiccup and been nicer. Maybe quenched his desire to prove to someone he wasn't useless.

Astrid pushed the thoughts away. Stoick and she had made a mistake in ignoring Hiccup. There was nothing Astrid could do to change the past, but she could change the future.

“Wake up,” she whispered to Hiccup, who remained just as bruised, battered, and silent as when she had walked in.

**~**

Astrid's head drooped dangerously. With a jerk, she woke up and righted herself. The afternoon was hazy and encouraged the pursuit of sleep. She propped her head up on her hand, fully expecting to drift off again, when soft steps resounded in the hospital hallway. Astrid looked up when they stopped right outside of Hiccup's door.

“Snotlout?” Astrid's jaw dropped in surprise when she saw him.

Snotlout was almost unrecognizable. He had actually  _ washed  _ and combed his greasy mop of hair, put on presentable clothes, donned sneakers that didn't look like they had come out of the nearest dumpster.

Snotlout shuffled over to the chair on the opposite side of Hiccup's bed. Now that she had a clear view of him, Astrid could see a blotch on his bicep where his ax tattoo used to be.

“You got it removed!” Astrid exclaimed, eyes nearly popping out of her head.

Snotlout looked sheepish and slouched in his seat. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat awkwardly, which sounded like a cat stuck in a blender. 

“You know,” he said after a while, “Hiccup always believed in me. Told me I could actually do something with my life. And you know what I did?” He didn't wait for Astrid to respond. “I treated him like garbage! His own cousin! I was his number one bully.”

Snotlout sighed. “This is all my fault,” he added miserably, looking at Hiccup.

“It not your fault. It's everyone's fault. For the love of the Bifrost Bridge, there was a time when I didn't even remember Hiccup's name!” 

Snotlout didn't respond. He just sighed again, and after a few minutes of sitting silently next to Hiccup's bed, he left. 

Astrid took a break only to grab some disgusting goop from the hospital cafeteria that looked like melted cardboard before she was back at Hiccup's bedside.

“Wake up,” she whispered. “It just isn't the same without you. Who else is going to reference books nobody knows?” That didn't motivate him to wake up.

Astrid spent her time doing an unending pile of paperwork. In the middle of the forth week since the battle, Astrid received a phone call that made her stop and think, but  _ since Hiccup wasn't awake,  _ there was nothing she could do about it.

In the middle of the  _ fifth  _ week, Astrid was about ready to tear her hair out. Exhaustion from staying in the same room and waiting for a fruitless goal finally caught up to her, and she just broke down.

“Why can't you just  _ wake up?!”  _ she demanded, leaning her head against the guardrail of Hiccup's bed. The heart monitor beeped in reply. She glared at the offending machine. 

“You're one of my best friends, Hiccup. Did you know that Snotlout got his tattoo removed? You actually managed to get through that thick skull of his. You have purpose!” She sighed in one big whoosh. 

“I miss you, Dragon Boy,” she practically growled. “Why won't you wake up?” What if he never woke up? she worried. What if he stayed in comatose forever? What if... 

**~**

...BEEP.....BEEP....BEEP....

The incessant noise wouldn't leave him alone. Didn't it understand he wanted to sleep? His leg was hurting like it had gotten run over by a car and his arm was numb. Is that what being an ice cube felt like?

A voice broke through his muddle of thoughts.

“- _ wake up?!  _ You're one of my best friends, Hiccup.”

Hiccup. That was his name, wasn't it? And the voice belong to...

“Did you know that Snotlout got his tattoo removed? You actually managed to get through that thick skull of his. You have purpose!” 

Astrid! That was the speaker's name! Astrid sighed, a weary sound. Hiccup wanted to tell her that Snotlout was no reason to get so bent out of shape about, but even  _ thinking  _ took too much energy.

“I miss you, Dragon Boy,” Astrid continued. “Why won't you just wake up?”

Hiccup forced his mouth to cooperate. “Astrid,” he croaked.

“Hiccup?” He couldn't see her face (his eyelids felt like concrete was lying on top of them), but he could still hear the shock laced through his name. “Hiccup?!” Astrid repeated, the shock quickly being replaced with joy and a bit of... anger?

His eyes finally did what he wanted and gradually opened. Astrid, gleaming blond hair and blue eyes making her look ever the Valkyrie, was leaning over him.

“You're awake!” she shouted.

“Of course.” Even with a pounding headache, he still smirked at her. “The sky's awake, so I'm awake,” he quoted. Astrid probably wouldn't get the movie reference, but he couldn't resist dropping it.

“You stupid, stupid, stupid dragon!” Astrid fumed, her face unconsciously turning a shade of red and her fists clenching. Did she know she was cute when she got worked up? Probably not, he thought.

“You spend five weeks in a coma, and the first thing you do is quote a-a... something?!” she yelled.

Astrid punched his arm that wasn't numb. He knew she didn't mean it, since the blow wasn't as hard as the one she had given him after figuring out his real identity, but he still winced in protest. “What was that for?”

“ _ That,”  _ she proclaimed, emphasizing the word, “was for scaring me.”

That reminded him of something. “Speaking of scaring people, do you have a pair of sunglasses I can borrow?”

“What?” Astrid shot him a look that he was beginning to recognize. She thought he was crazy.

“Sunglasses. I don't want my dragon eyes to scare the poor nurse who's going to come in here any minute to check on me.”

Astrid's eyes widened and she flew out of the room with an exclamation of “I'll be right back!”

**~**

Stoick had somehow managed to keep the fact that Hiccup was the Night Fury private. The tales the newspapers were screaming was that the Night Fury had killed the Red Death and Hiccup Haddock had been trapped inside a building when the Red Death blew up. Besides dropping off a copy of the article for Astrid to read, Stoick had avoided Hiccup's room for several weeks.

Astrid walked into Hiccup's hospital room two weeks after he had awakened to see him making faces at a bowl of what looked like water-logged pencil shavings.

“That looks delicious,” she commented sarcastically. 

“You haven't had, you haven't lived,” Hiccup muttered taking another bite of the oatmeal. He previously took the news of his leg pretty well by calmly asking for a graph sketchbook and then ignoring Astrid for the rest of the day.

“Is everything you reference  _ actually  _ from a book or movie?” Astrid asked. “Or are you just making these things up?”

“Does it snow metal on Venus?” he shot back. He moved his spoon aimlessly around in the oatmeal. “When are they going to let me out of here?” he asked. “There's only so much that raw Viking-ness can take of soggy goop,” he complained.

“Ask the doctor,” Astrid said, plopping down in the chair next to his bed. “Listen, there's something I need to tell you.”

“Oh?” he asked, arching an eyebrow and pushing his tray of food aside. For now, his sunglasses were lying on the table next to the bed.

Astrid cracked her fingers and then laced them together, trying to figure out how she was going to tell him. “While you were still in your coma, they did a complete scan of N.E.S.T.'s headquarters underneath the city.”

“And?” 

“They found several of the people who had gone missing. It turns out N.E.S.T. was trying to reproduce what they did to you on them.”

Hiccup sat up quickly, which caused him to grimace in pain and clutch his collarbone. “There are more dragons?”

“That's the thing. Some of Berk's leading scientists were able to undo whatever N.E.S.T. did,” Astrid explained. “Which hypothetically means that they can undo whatever they did to you.”

“No,” Hiccup refused firmly.

“Why not?” Astrid wasn't necessarily surprised at his choice, but she thought he would have given it more consideration.

“It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”  _ Stupid book quotes. _

“Can you even fly?” Astrid asked, instantly regretting it. “I mean, since you lost your leg... does that mean you've lost a wing or a tail fin or something?”

“I don't know, Astrid,” Hiccup said, frowning. “I just don't know.”

**~**

Astrid paused before entering Hiccup's hospital room the next day. Stoick and Hiccup were obviously having a private conversation, but with Stoick's booming voice, the private part was nearly impossible.

“I'm sorry, Hiccup.”

“I accepted your apology. Twice. But, twenty-one years, Dad.”

“It was hard. You weren't the average kid, Hiccup, always inventing things and getting into trouble.” Stoick sighed. “I just couldn't understand you!”

Before Hiccup could respond, Stoick's phone went off. Stoick muttered something about taking the call. Astrid was about to step into the room to say hi to Hiccup, but just then Snotlout came down the hallway. Astrid decided to come back later. As she left, she smiled to herself. Things appeared to be on the mend.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**11: Epilogue: From the Ashes Rising**

Astrid eye's were met with the scene of a nurse (whose name tag read Gothi) glaring at Hiccup, with her old, wrinkled hands on her hips.

“She won't let me out of bed!” Hiccup complained. The nurse, apparently deaf or mute, signed something with her hands to him. 

Hiccup must of understood what she was saying because he widened his features in fake shock. “What? I'm missing a leg?” He looked down at his left leg. “Oh! I am! Well, I'll be a blue-nosed gopher.”

The nurse scowled at him.

“Could I take him out for a spin in a wheelchair?” Astrid intervened before round two commenced. “I'll get him back in less than two hours.”

The nurse thought for a moment.

“She'll have to check it out with the doctor,” Hiccup translated at another flurry of hand motions.

After a long lecture from Hiccup's doctor, twenty minutes later they were out cruising the streets.

“I've decided that I'm going to design my own prosthetic,” Hiccup told her when they stopped for ice cream. New Berk City's citizens didn't care that Thanksgiving was only weeks away and that the temperatures dropped below thirty every night; their love for ice cream had them eating it year round!

“Good,” Astrid said, waving her plastic spoon at him. “Maybe that will keep you out of trouble for awhile.”

“Hey!” Hiccup protested, but it was half-hearted.

They sat in silence, watching the traffic on the street. The clean up from the fight was still going on, but most of the city was up and running again.

“Dad and I have finally come to an agreement,” Hiccup announced, scraping the bottom of his cup.

“Oh?” Astrid asked, raising her eyebrows. 

“Yeah. We've agreed not to understand each other.”

Astrid punched him in the arm. “That's not funny. You two should learn to get along.”

Hiccup shrugged. Once they were finished, Astrid disposed of their cups in a recycling bin. When she came back, Hiccup seemed deep in thought.

He finally said, “My dad offered me my position back. I'm going to accept.”

“Great!” This made Astrid happy, although she kicked herself for it. What did it matter to her that Hiccup was going to be working in the same office room?

“And I'm still going to continue my...  _ night time activities.” _

Astrid's elation melted. That reminded her that she was no longer needed as the Night Fury's assistant now that N.E.S.T. was caught. “Great.” Astrid forced a smile that didn't match the sinking of her stomach.

Hiccup shot her a sly look out of the corner of his eye. “You know, I hear that sidekicks are making a comeback in the superhero world.”

“Really.” Astrid couldn't help the small smile that wormed its way to the corner of her mouth.

“How about it Astrid? Want to help me, full-time?”

The smile worked its way up, although Astrid kept it to a smirk. “Someone needs to keep you out of trouble, Dragon Boy.”

Hiccup snorted. “Yeah, right.” But he was grinning as well. “Welcome aboard, Astrid!”

A real smile broke through this time, and Astrid couldn't help but feeling like she was soaring above the clouds, high and free, like a dragon.


End file.
